Available Technology
Paper-based keypads: Low-cost, disposable user interface
Technology:
Capacitive buttons using lasercut metalized paper
Markets Addressed
Paper is an ideal material for ultra low-cost keypads and touch pads, enabling an entire new class of applications. Paper keypads are a thin, light and bendable. They also create new capabilities, such as the ability to print graphics and images, that harness existing printing technologies. They can be applied to a range of applications, including store displays, consumer packaging, disposable medical devices and toys. The Harvard technology is proven in the lab, can fairly easily make the transition to manufacturing scale and even at the present, can be fabricated for less than $0.25 per meter.
Innovations and Advantages
Capacitive interfaces are widely used in devices such as smart phones and tablets. They are thin, reliable, and work well under protective or decorative coatings. Historically, cost has restricted the use of capacitive touch pads to high end electronic applications.
This technology drives the cost of capacitive interfaces down to a cost point (estimated to be under $0.25 per square meter) that enables a new class of “disposable” applications. In addition, the ability to easily cut, print over, and wrap around curved surfaces provides a completely new set of capabilities. Compared to mechanical buttons or touch sensors, this technology offers a solution that is thin, easy to shape, easy to attach, and one that requires no moving parts. Touch sensitive pads can be read with a inexpensive electronic components and provide a disposable option for inexpensive a variety of applications.
Paper keypad for an alarmed cardboard box
Additional Information
Keywords:
User Interfaces, Pervsive Interaction, Disposable Buttons, Thin Buttons
Publications:
“Paper-Based, Capacitive Touch Pads.” Advanced Materials (2012), DOI: 10.1002/adma.201200137.
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Inventor(s):
Chan, Lawrence K.
Kalb, William Bell
Liu, Xinyu
Mazzeo, Aaron D.
Mazzeo, Brian
Whitesides, George M.
Categories:
For further information, please contact:
Sam Liss, Director of Business Development
(617) 495-4371
Reference Harvard Case #4229