Sensors, Haptics & Displays

From the Exhibition Hall at the IDTechEx Show! in Santa Clara last week came a wide variety of new product announcements and press releases. Here we summarize some of the announcements.

The winners of the IDTechEx Awards were announced yesterday evening (16 November), at the end of the opening day of the IDTechEx Show! in Santa Clara, CA, where over 3,200 attendees were brought together at the biggest conference IDTechEx has held. The awards recognized the most significant innovations in electric vehicles, energy harvesting and storage and the internet of things (IoT).

According to IHS Automotive forecasts, 55% of annual global new vehicle sales in 2020 will be vehicles that are connected - and at that time, nearly half of the global fleet of vehicles in operation will be connected.

As poor air pollution affects 92% of the world's population, there is a growing need for low cost direct pollution measurement in order to combat growing air quality concerns. Chemical gas sensors will play a key role in pollutant monitoring over the next decade and IDTechEx predicts that the environmental sensor market will be worth more than $3 billion annually by 2027.

Buses are very important. Injuries and deaths from two wheelers have not reduced very much in decades whereas vehicles with four wheels or more have seen huge improvements.

Autonomous vehicles need no pilot, not even one in reserve. Many truly autonomous vehicles are unmanned mobile robots prowling everywhere from the ocean depths to nuclear power stations, the upper atmosphere and outer space.

Debuts in North America; Event Also Features Presentations from Major Car Companies Including Ford, Nissan, Porsche and Toyota

Silicon Valley in California spawns the awesome giants that hold the future in their hands but they cannot solve their traffic problem.

Cornerstone presentations at North America's largest event on emerging technologies cover how new technologies are addressing world's biggest needs

Agricultural robotics can upend several commonly-held notions. Amongst them is the idea that big is better. In practise this has translated into ever larger and more powerful agricultural machinery. This makes sense because a big machine amplifies the capabilities of the skilled driver, dramatically boosting its productivity. This notion may however be about to experience a fundamental change. The reason is that the driver can now finally be taken totally out of the equation.