MWC 2017: New Functionality Lets FPC Sensors Detect Pressure

Fingerprint Cards has brought a new feature to its fingerprint sensor technology: pressure sensitivity.

Dubbed FPC SenseTouch, the feature allows specific functionality to be triggered by the amount of pressure a finger exerts on the fingerprint sensor. For example, a hard press might take the user directly to the home screen, while a softer touch might expand a notification from an app.

The technology echoes systems developed by Huawei and Apple that brought similar functionality to their devices, but integrates it directly into the fingerprint sensor rather than the device display. That could lead to some interesting functionality, depending on how OEMs take advantage of it, by giving users more control over how the interact with their devices directly from the lock screen.

FPC announced the new technology at this week’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, where it also unveiled a new integration that brings a fingerprint sensor directly into the keyboard of a new smartphone from BlackBerry.