Huami has unveiled a new AI chip for wearable devices. The Huami Huangshan-2(MHS002) is based on RISC-V architecture, and is expected to enter mass production in the fourth quarter of 2020. The first wearable devices featuring the chip will arrive in 2021.

According to Huami, the new chip is both faster and more energy efficient than its predecessor, reducing overall power consumption by as much as 50 percent. The energy improvements are realized with the help of an Always-On sensor mode and C2 co-processor. The Huangshan-2 arrives roughly a year and a half after the Huangshan No.1, which boasted a cardiac biometrics engine, an ECG, an ECG Pro, and an engine to monitor heart rhythm abnormalities.

The new chip debuted at the “AI to Decode Future” Innovation Conference, where Huami also announced the BioTracker 2 PPG optical sensor. Both the BioTracker 2 and the Huangshan-2 are part of Huami’s Systematic AI Health Management Platform, which in turn supports five different index and data engines, including RealBeats 2, OxygenBeats, SomnusCare, ExerSense, and huami-PAI.

Of those, RealBeats 2 is a heart rate monitor that is able to filter out noise interference during a workout, while ExerSense uses motion detection to monitor different kinds of exercise, whether it be running, swimming, or some other activity. SomnusCare is a sleep tracker, and OxygenBeats accurately tracks blood-oxygen levels and has been used during checkups with recovering COVID-19 patients.

In other news, Huami formed a new Huami AI Research Institute, and appointed UC Irvine professor Ramesh Jain as the Institute’s Chief Technical Advisor. Jain is the Founder of UCI’s Institute for Future Health.

Huami recently partnered with the Chinese Athletic Association to improve the performance of wearable devices, and later argued that such devices can help track the spread of COVID-19. Before that, the company teamed up with AliveCor in an effort to improve its ECG technology.