AAC and UltraSense Partner to Create Touch Experience Solutions for Cars and Consumer Electronics

AAC Technologies announced a strategic partnership with UltraSense Systems to explore the company's SmartSurface tactile interfaces to create holistic touch experience solutions for automotive and consumer electronics markets. As consumers demand more intuitive touch interfaces, the AAC and UltraSense partnership can help accelerate the industry transition from mechanical buttons to solid-state digital buttons.

Microchip Technology launched a new maXTouch Knob on Display (KoD) controller, the first automotive-grade touchscreen controller family to natively support the detection and reporting of capacitive rotary encoders, as well as mechanical switches on top of a touch panel. Unlike traditional mechanical rotary encoders, this new technology enables the mounting of the knob directly onto the display without an opening in the panel or any customization of the touch pattern, increasing design flexibility.

The micro-acoustics experts at Sound Solutions Austria GmbH have developed a compact actuator that is able to ensure stereo sound quality when used to transform the display of increasingly thin smartphones and tablets into a loudspeaker. According to the Vienna-based company, the new “Singing Display” actuator is ideal for space-saving, waterproof designs, extending the response beyond what is possible with conventional speakers technologies, by being applied directly to the back of the large tablet or smartphone screen surfaces.

With the goal of elevating the user experience for a wide range of consumer devices, Cirrus Logic is leveraging its low-power, low-latency mixed-signal processing technology to develop an advanced product portfolio of haptic and sensing integrated circuits (ICs) that enable increased functionality and sleek buttonless designs for smartphones, PCs, wearables, gaming, virtual reality and automotive applications. Cirrus Logic’s haptic products and sophisticated haptic feedback technology enable sleeker, more robust end products with fewer mechanical controls for new responsive and immersive user experiences.