Product

HAP2U was developed for integration into touch interfaces for devices like smartphones, tablets, touchpads, and communicating objects, with the goal of giving users the "third dimension": touch. The solution gives touch screens texture for richer content. Texture enhances web browsers (links), ecommerce (clothing you can "feel"), gaming, home automation, and assisted living solutions for the visually-impaired, bringing the human-machine interface into a new era. Unlike competing solutions, HAP2U is fully synchronized and instantaneous, with no lag between the touch and visual feedback. The experience truly feels natural. The use of an innovative thin-layer technology resulted in optimized system packaging and a five-fold reduction in energy consumption. HAP2U can be used anywhere there is a touch interface: - Mobile devices: more intuitive communication through enhanced browsing - Industrial machines: secure interaction between machine and operator - Automotive: touch-based GPS and on-board system control (air conditioning, etc.) for safer driving - Interactive kiosks and ticketing: touch codes to replace numerical codes, enhanced browsing HAP2U solutions will address manufacturers seeking ways to make their products more competitive as well as users looking for more "people friendly" technology.

L'histoire du produit

The project originally started as a joint initiative of STMicroelectronics, the CEA, and USTL (Lille Science and Technology University) to develop applications for STMicroelectronics touch microcontrollers. Positive market response (from customers like Microsoft, Samsung, Skoda, and Renault) encouraged STMicroelectronics to pursue development, this time under the TouchIT project backed by the French Single Interministerial Fund. TouchIT aimed to: - Improve energy performance - Develop models of the system's behavior to prepare the technology for industrial scale-up - Improve the driver electronics for an ultra-compact form factor - Develop applications for the technology A project consortium covering all of these issues was created: - STMicroelectronics: project lead, electronic component manufacturer - EASII IC: integrated circuit design - CEA-LETI: low-power actuator fabrication - USTL: haptic feedback solution - TIMA (UJF): mechanical modelling and characterization - INRIA: algorithm development - AlphaUI: backside keyboard integration - ORANGE LABS: embedded application testing HAP2U is targeting the touch interface market (a sizeable goal given the more than two billion smartphones sold in 2014). The company's go-to-market plan includes several generations of the technology for gradual penetration of growth markets (industrial, development) and, ultimately, the mobile phone market.