Atmel Unveils XSense Flexible Touch Sensors

Atmel has unveiled XSense, a flexible film-based touch sensor that allows the design of curved capacitive touch screen displays. Atmel expects target applications to go beyond smartphones and tablets, and extend touch capabilities into a wide array of new consumer and industrial products such as watches, coffee machines, calculators and more.

XSense touch sensors, based on a proprietary roll-to-roll metal mesh technology, will allow OEMs to develop larger, lighter, sleeker, curved and edgeless designs for smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks and a host of new touch-enabled products, says the company.

XSense sensors can be combined with Atmel maXTouch controllers which are already used in numerous smartphones and tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Note and Samsung Galaxy Tab, as well as other touch controllers available on the market.

Here are the key benefits of XSense technology:

Flexibility for curved surfaces
Narrow border for larger active screen areas
Highly accurate stylus performance (active or passive)
Narrow bond area for better device reliability
Low sheet resistance for better noise immunity and lower power
Support for larger touchscreens, for products of different form factors

You can watch Atmel XSense promotion video below to see what could be achieve with this new technology.

Bear in mind that the touch screen film (XSense) is only part of a full touchscreen display, placed between the cover and the display itself, so the manufacturers will have to design covers and displays that can be curved to take advantage of the technology.

Atmel says that XSense touch sensors are currently sampling to selected customers, and mass production is scheduled for Q3 2012.

You can find more information on Atmel XSense page.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.