Sensors, Haptics & Displays

Self-healing materials are a new megatrend. The need is massive, from saving trillions of dollars lost yearly by collapsing buildings and bridges to bionic man and woman living better and longer. In saving the planet and preserving resources, long life from self-healing beats recycling any day.

Smart buildings aim to bring digital technologies into the fabric of the building, rather than just to objects within it. They will utilize a wide range of emerging technologies, such as semi-transparent photovoltaics on windows, moisture sensors for leak detection, and printed heaters with wall panels.

Radar is fundamental to automotive safety and critical to achieving emerging level 4 autonomy. While today more than 50% of new cars are shipped with one or more radars, by 2042 all new vehicles will come with multiple radars as they become a key enabler for future mobility modes, according to IDTechEx's latest report, "Automotive Radar 2022-2042".

With the pandemic still raging, supply chain disruptions, the chip shortage, climate catastrophes, and geopolitical turbulence, it is safe to say 2021 has not been smooth sailing. The materials and chemical sector provides the backbone of every industry and remains under pressure from all these challenges. In this article, IDTechEx highlights the key news from their independent perspective on this crucial industry.

Having covered this industry for the past decade, IDTechEx has developed an extensive database of historic and current market data. In this article IDTechEx will do something that is relatively unusual for a market research company to do: publicly compare old forecasts with what actually happened.

Are you fed up with Zoom? Do you want online interactions to feel more... interactive? The metaverse promises a step-change in how society communicates but, without the hardware technology, will ultimately remain a pipe dream.

The massive new challenges of desertification, rising sea levels, starvation, increasingly violent weather, dysfunctional national governments and the accelerating move to cities can be tackled on a human scale.

2021 has been an exciting year for printed electronics, with multiple applications reaching commercial adoption and significant funds flowing into the sector. Even where technologies are not yet commercialized, companies are increasingly transitioning from developing their technology and producing speculative demonstration prototypes to development and qualification projects for specific customers.

In this article, IDTechEx analysts take a look back at the key events and trends from the future mobility world over the past year - and what to look out for in 2022.

Will the capacitive human-machine interface (HMI) components of the future be produced using IME, or will the simpler currently utilized manufacturing methodologies persist?