User interface developer Synaptics has announced a major new partnership that should see its technology integrated into upcoming smart cars. The company has teamed up with automotive supplier Valeo.
The partnership entails the integration of Synaptics technology into an automotive touchscreen, which will incorporate Synaptics’ haptic feedback, capacitive touch, and ClearForce pressure-sensing systems. It’s a development that follows a deliberate intensification of the company’s focus on UI technology with automotive applications, with Synaptics having announced a new product line aimed at the smart car market last autumn.
In a statement announcing the collaboration, Synaptics executive John Brady emphasized the novelty of the system in development. “Leveraging Synaptics’ ClearPad® ClearForce touch and force sensing technology in a single chip, this automotive solution represents new dimensions in vehicle user interfaces,” he said.
Synaptics is ahead of the game, but certainly not the only touch interface developer looking to the emerging smart car market; fingerprint sensor specialist Fingerprint Cards also recently announced its intention to explore this area, and meanwhile car makers are starting to show interest in all kinds of sophisticated technologies for their upcoming vehicles. By getting into the market so early, Synaptics should be able to solidify a strong position as smart car excitement continues to build.
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