Novasentis actuators enable lifelike keyboards and devices

Posted by – October 6, 2014

I met Novasentis in the Silicon Valley, they showed me their ultra thin keyboard powered by their actuators with actual haptic feedback, and its not just sensory but also audible and they can customize both the feeling and the sounds. They refer to their space as the Neo-Sensory Age and they are leading the market in creating actuators that are a fraction of the size of todays incumbent devices. I picked up one of their actual devices, it was thin like paper, weightless, yet the performance was very good because they are not vibrating the entire keyboard or the entire phone, they can localize the vibrations which makes for a better human interface. The products are made from Electro-mechanical Polymer (EMP) technology. This material is comprised of randomly aligned molecules that align in one direction and elongate when electricity is applied. When the EMP material is bonded to a substrate/keyboard, the result is an actuator which provides high definition haptics, audio, or physical morphing feedback yet thinner than a human hair. Novasentis is focused on providing ultra-thin haptic keyboards for the consumer electronics space, but is a platform technology with a variety of innovative uses in industries including mobile devices, wearable, automotive and medical industries. The material is thin, light, flexible and can be the leading contender in the future as major OEMs launch flexible and wearable devices.