Live Theater Session by ams OSRAM: Optical Force and Touch Sensing (OFS)

Session details:

The precision level achieved by a new generation of optical sensors opens many new application areas. Switches and buttons have been enabled by mechanical and in the last few decades also by capacitive solutions. Optical sensor systems are now able to detect mechanical deformations of 1 Micron (human hair is 70 micron thick). At this precision level optical sensors can be used to entirely replace conventional buttons and switches by offering numerous advantages: No moving parts, operational in wet and rugged conditions, allowing input proportional to the force applied, etc.

Optical force sensors expand the way a user can interact with their devices by allowing the introduction of multi modal inputs, e.g., the sensor when integrated in a “smart surface” can already detect an approaching object, here a button can be illuminated before the button is actually pressed. Many new ways of interaction can be configured and optimized for the given use case. First OFS sensors are currently being designed in in numerous consumer, automotive and industrial systems.