HARRISBURG, PA – Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (HU) is home to the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, better known as CIE. Since its founding in 2019, CIE has leveraged the considerable resources and talent connected to HU to unleash the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The Story of Naqi Logix
Naqi Logix is one CIE’s founding startups and stands among the almost two-dozen promising companies that got their start in CIE’s business incubator. Naqi is also one of the most inspiring success stories from Central PA’s business community in recent memory.
In 2023, TIME Magazine named Naqi Earbuds one of the Top 200 Best Inventions of the Year. Then, in 2024, the company was accepted into the Innovative Solutions Canada Program; claimed the TWICE VIP Award in the “Innovative Tech” category; and received the highly coveted Gold Edison Award for “Social and Cultural Impact.” Naqi finds itself in rarified company; other recipients of the Gold Edison Award include 3M, Cirrus Aircraft, Dow, Dupont, Hewlett Packard, Honeywell, IBM, Leica Geosystems, Lenovo, and LG Innotek.
As profiled this week in Inc. Magazine, Naqi’s innovative Neural Earbuds provide a non-invasive alternative to brain implants, allowing wearers to carry out everyday tasks most of us take for granted, like playing games, composing emails, and paying bills. The technology creates an “invisible user interface” that allows individuals with physical limitations to interact with the world around them.
Onstage at the Edison Awards, Naqi founder Dave Segal treated attendees to a live demonstration of the company’s flagship product. This was no placeholder prototype or proof of concept; the technology exists, today, and is ready to change lives.
Segal invited William Smith, an engineering proposal specialist for Black and Veatch, to join him onstage. Smith, who was paralyzed at 23 in a car accident, relies on a wheelchair and a variety of assistive technologies to get around and complete everyday tasks most others don’t think twice about. For him, Naqi Earbuds have been truly life changing. Onlookers cheered and gasped as Smith effortlessly worked the cursor on his computer and typed out a written greeting for the crowd, all using imperceptible movements of his eyes and head.
“Naqi Neural Earbuds is like a new superpower,” he said.
Not surprisingly, the world is taking notice.
Naqi Logix and Founder Dave Segal Profiled in Inc. Magazine
In October, Inc. Magazine featured Naqi and its founder, Dave Segal, in a lengthy profile celebrating their milestones and potential to transform lives. Segal, a graduate of York College, says he got his inspiration from a 2013 story about the use of prosthetics among Iraq War veterans. “I had this vision of an invisible cursor navigating a three-dimensional structure, using mental commands,” he says. He calls this moment his “Naqi epiphany.”
As noted by Inc. Magazine:
“Naqi is not only for people with mobility challenges. Anyone can use it to control a cell phone, laptop, TV, drone, or even (in theory) a car. Segal can pilot a 737 on a commercial flight simulator using nothing but his earbud and a Bluetooth connection. Workers on an assembly line could control an industrial robot remotely without setting down their tools or leaving their station; a McDonald’s manager could change an oven setting, flick an order-up button, and signal a lunch break without abandoning the register. Potential applications are legion, from the military to medicine. And because Naqi is an earbud, it avoids most of the awkward adoption hurdles that sank Google Glass and many other wearables.”
Naqi’s “Invisible User Interface” is almost infinitely expandable through a “dead simple” grid of apps and commands built around the wearer’s role, lifestyle, and use cases. A CEO might have hundreds of programmed functions; a lathe operator or floor manager might have a handful or a dozen.
It’s impossible not to invoke the names Elon Musk and Neuralink in conversations about brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs. What makes Naqi’s approach different is the pronounced lack of invasive surgeries and implants – a substantially different take on a quickly growing industry – making it, in a word, far more accessible than most of the accessibility technologies it’s likely to be compared to.
CIE Brings Entrepreneurial Vision to Life
This work by Naqi Logix is also a standout example of what’s possible through CIE’s industry-academia synergy. “He approached me like a mad scientist,” Harrisburg University President, Eric Darr, Ph.D., recalls fondly. It turned out to be just the right kind of madness, at the right time. The two entities have truly “grown up” together; a win for Naqi is a win for CIE, HU, and the Harrisburg business landscape.
“CIE fosters a transformative environment where early-stage founders thrive, bridging ideas with opportunities to drive innovation and embrace necessary change for success,” said Jay Jayamohan, Founder and Director of CIE. “Naqi’s evolution from an idea to a thriving business, including the milestone of being featured at the Edison Awards and in TIME and Inc. Magazine, demonstrates the strength of Central PA’s startup ecosystem, with CIE at its core, connecting the dots for innovation and growth.”
Over the past few years, CIE has implemented new and innovative programs, including Accelerator for Military, Blend@CIE, Hackathons, Technology for All, and ongoing incubation of startups aimed at supporting minorities and creating economic impacts in small towns across our region.
You can read Inc. Magazine’s profile of Dave Segal and Naqi Logix right now.
And be sure to visit HarrisburgU.edu today to pitch your business, learn more about CIE and how it supports visionary entrepreneurs, or find out how you can sponsor CIE’s impactful mission in Central Pennsylvania and beyond.
ABOUT HARRISBURG UNIVERSITY
Harrisburg University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and is a private, nonprofit university offering bachelor’s and graduate degree programs in the fields of science, technology, and mathematics. For additional information about the University’s affordable, demand-driven undergraduate and graduate programs, please call 717.901.5146 or email Connect@HarrisburgU.edu. Stay updated by following Harrisburg University on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
