Tag Archives: Murata Manufacturing

Bending and twisting at Ceatac

CEATEC (Cutting Edge IT [Information Technology] and Electronics Comprehensive Exhibition) Japan, Oct.4-8, 2011 is a large technology fair being held in Chiba, near Tokyo. Some 800 companies are showcasing their latest and greatest according to the Oct. 4, 2011 news item on physorg.com,

Around 600 firms unveiled their innovations at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (Ceatec) exhibition in Chiba, near Tokyo, expected to draw 200,000 visitors during its five-day run, organisers said.

The impact of Japan’s March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster gave added resonance to technologies on display, particularly those aimed at improving urban infrastructure and energy efficiency.

State-of-the-art radiation counters and power-saving technologies are in high demand after Japan’s disasters sparked fears over contamination and led to power shortages, requiring cuts to energy consumption this summer.

Japanese telecom giant NTT [Nippon Telegraph and Telephone] DoCoMo showed off a smartphone with changeable sensor-embedded shells that can detect bad breath, vital body signs and even be used to measure background radiation levels.

One item that particularly interested me is a transparent organic film from Murata Manufacturing. From the news item,

Electronics parts maker Murata Manufacturing unveiled devices using a newly developed transparent organic film that can deliver instructions via twisting motions or pressure.

One of its gadgets, a light-powered plate called the Leaf Grip Remote Controller, has no buttons but is instead operated by the user bending and twisting it.

Another application of the film is as a touch panel which responds to left-right and up-down finger swipes but also senses how strongly it is being pressed, unlike conventional touchscreen glass used on smartphones.

“Currently we give commands two-dimensionally on touch panels in smartphones and tablet computers but this invention would give us another dimension — how hard they are pressed,” Murata spokesman Kazuhisa Mashita said.

“This could enable users to scroll screens slowly by touching the screen lightly and move images faster by pressing it harder,” he told AFP [Agence France-Presse] ahead of the exhibition.

Earlier this year when CHI (computer-human interface) 2011 was taking place in Vancouver, Canada, I wrote about Roel Vertegaal and his team’s work on their PaperPhone and bending and twisting gestures (May 12, 2011 posting).

Bending and twisting a flexible screen doesn’t seem all that complicated but when you think about making those gestures meaningful,  i. e., ‘slowing a screen image by pressing more softly’, you realize just how much effort and thought are required for features, that if successful, will not be noticed.