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Hanshow, a global leader in electronic shelf labels (ESL) and digital store solutions, has entered into a multi-year research collaboration with the University of Cambridge, one of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions. The partnership will focus on joint research and innovation in next-generation intelligent hybrid wireless technologies, marking an important milestone in Hanshow’s continued investment in core technologies and long-term innovation.
This collaboration leverages the University of Cambridge’s deep expertise in fundamental wireless technology research, alongside Hanshow’s extensive industry experience, to further strengthen multi-protocol integration capabilities and expand scalable applications across diverse retail scenarios. Guided by shared principles of innovation, collaboration, openness, and knowledge sharing, the two parties aim to accelerate the translation of cutting-edge research into real-world industrial applications, supporting intelligent solutions across multiple industries.
With a history spanning more than 800 years, the University of Cambridge is renowned as the academic home of pioneering scientists such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Alan Turing, and Stephen Hawking. The university has long been committed to bridging academic research and industrial practice, earning a global reputation for excellence in innovation. Its extensive expertise in intelligent sensing, smart spaces, high-precision positioning, and wireless technologies aligns closely with Hanshow’s strategy to integrate industry, academia, research, and application in driving digital transformation across retail.
Hanshow has been deeply engaged in low-power wireless communication technologies for over a decade, consistently adhering to a strategy of empowering industry applications through technological innovation. Through its proprietary HiLPC wireless communication protocol, Hanshow has built a robust wireless foundation for ESL deployments, designed to operate reliably at scale, even in complex and high-density retail environments, while maintaining ultra-low power consumption. In parallel, Hanshow actively contributes to the evolution of global communication standards. The company’s Chief Technology Officer, Ms Min Liang, has served for many years as Chair of the ESL Working Group within the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG), underscoring Hanshow’s technological leadership and influence within the industry.
Building on its solid technological foundation and extensive industry practice, Hanshow is proactively advancing next-generation IoT paradigms, including Ambient IoT. By deeply integrating ultra-low-power wireless communication, ambient energy harvesting, and distributed sensing capabilities, Ambient IoT enables IoT systems to evolve from being merely ‘connected’ to becoming truly ‘sustainable’. This provides a new foundation for long-term, large-scale device deployment, low-cost operations, and refined operational management in retail environments, while supporting the continuous evolution of intelligent store infrastructure.
As part of this collaboration, Hanshow and the University of Cambridge will adopt a closely coordinated innovation model, combining theoretical modelling, simulation testing, and experimental validation to progressively advance the research and industrialisation of next-generation intelligent hybrid wireless technologies. On one hand, the collaboration will focus on multi-protocol integration to enhance communication efficiency and consumer interaction in retail environments. On the other hand, the outcomes will be extended beyond retail scenarios—including food, beauty, consumer electronics, and apparel—into broader domains such as smart offices and smart logistics, injecting strong technological momentum into digital transformation across industries.
This collaboration not only provides Hanshow with cutting-edge academic support for product and solution innovation, reinforcing its core competitiveness in retail technology, but also establishes a closed-loop value chain spanning fundamental research, technology development, and industrial application. The partnership aims to set a benchmark for innovative IoT solutions in retail and contribute to the sustainable development of the industry.
“This collaboration with the University of Cambridge represents a significant step forward in the development of our technology ecosystem,” said Min Liang, Chief Technology Officer of Hanshow. “By combining academic excellence with industrial innovation, we aim to push the boundaries of IoT technologies and transform advanced research into intelligent, scalable system solutions that help redefine operational excellence in global retail.”
“This partnership brings our research in intelligent hybrid wireless technologies together with Hanshow’s strong capabilities in industrial innovation,” said Dr Michael Crisp, Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. “It gives us the opportunity to create tangible industry impact by developing low-power, high-efficiency solutions that will help usher retail store operations into the next generation of intelligent systems.”
This collaboration marks another important step in Hanshow’s global innovation ecosystem strategy. Looking ahead, Hanshow will continue to embrace open and collaborative innovation, build a sustainable global technology innovation framework, and strengthen mechanisms for industrial deployment—empowering customers across industries to navigate an increasingly competitive market with confidence and long-term resilience.
