Appliance Design - August 2008 - (Page 26)

SWITCHES Keys to Engagement Photoillustration of how game controller might use display keys. Attaching displays to key switches creates new mode of interaction. W by richard babyak 26 applianceDESIGN August 2008 hen thinking of image-based interaction, a touchscreen is the first thing that comes to mind. And while touchscreens are increasingly employed in contemporary product design, the primary means for navigating our high-tech world is still paddling through the stream of buttons found on keyboards, printers, remote controls, security systems, telephones, ATMs, vending machines, and more. Now there is a way to provide direct visual feedback for this button world – right on the button. United Keys, San Jose, Calif., has developed a technology for embedding small displays onto the tops of pushbuttons or key switches and then controlling them. In essence, the technology is a means for driving multiple miniature displays attached to standard, electromechanical input devices – combining visual and tactile feedback into a single component. The idea seems so simple and elegant, the obvious question is what took so long for someone to think of it. In fact, the concept has been employed selectively in the past, but mostly in expensive custom designs. The novelty of United Keys’ approach is to pull it off in an economical fashion that makes the concept affordable for highvolume applications, according to Ronald Brown, CEO. There are several important factors permitting the company to deliver a cost-effective solution. One is that displays are now available in smaller and thinner sizes, and their costs have been declining. Another is the utilization of commonly available display and input devices, rather than customdesigned components. “At the component level, we are combining standard form factors that are already running off of highvolume assembly lines,” Brown says. “We don’t need a custom factory to build these.” The means for manufacturing the product also contributes to its economics. Instead of trying to gradually build a manufacturing capacity, United Keys has formed a strategic alliance with Foxconn Technology Group, Taiwan, one of the world’s largest contract manufacturers of consumer electronics, a company already making products for www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

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Appliance Design - August 2008 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch Plastics Switches Noise & Vibration Control Joining New Products Design Marts Association Report: CEA Advertiser’s Index

Appliance Design - August 2008

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