Sensors, Haptics & Displays

What do electronic skin patches, thin-film flexible photovoltaics and automotive interior consoles have in common? All are produced using printed & flexible electronics, an alternative approach to conventional printed circuit boards that combines additive manufacturing with flexible substrates.

Wednesday 28 June - Where Metamaterials Meet Tele-Communications. What is a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), and why are they likely to be needed for high frequency telecommunications.; The different types of RIS (passive, semi-passive, active) and where they are likely to be deployed; Manufacturing processes and materials required for RIS production.

Anyone who has used a 'smart lens' app on their smartphone is familiar with machine vision. Rather than simply reproducing and storing a picture for later viewing, machine vision applies an image processing algorithm to obtain additional insight, such as locating edges or object identification.

On June 5th, Apple ended years of speculation and finally announced a mixed reality (MR) headset. The US$3499 Vision Pro headset confirmed some expectations and confounded others. IDTechEx has been tracking the mixed, augmented and virtual reality markets since 2015, with reports on headsets and accessories and optics available now and a report on displays for AR/VR soon to be released. This insight into the AR/VR industry and associated technologies provides context to IDTechEx's initial analysis of Apple's headset design philosophy.

Wednesday 21 June 2023 - IDTechEx's Key Semiconductor Trends in Edge AI, Automotive, and Advanced Semiconductor Packaging. AI-crucial technologies, such as autonomous driving, and the current state of the technology landscape; AI as enablers of new functionalities at the edge, such as for the smartphone market; Requirements for AI hardware at the edge; Semiconductor technologies used in autonomous vehicles; Capabilities of automotive semiconductor suppliers and the role of foundries; Key technology trend in semiconductor packaging; Growth drivers in main application areas for advanced semiconductor packaging: high performance computing (HPC) applications/data centers, communication networks, autonomous cars, and consumer electronics

As autonomous vehicles (AV) become increasingly attractive, one technology that is playing a crucial role in their development is lidar. Lidar, short for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses lasers to measure distances and create detailed 3D maps of the environment.

What is packaging for? From its initial purpose of simply protecting the product to driving sales via consumer engagement, the role of packaging has substantially evolved. Smart/intelligent packaging continues this trend towards greater functionality, employing sensors, printed electronics, and wireless communication to add value in novel ways.

With the high inflation, increasing labor costs, labor shortage, energy crisis, and hybrid working, the manufacturing industry experienced significant turmoil in 2022. Although some of these have started to get eased, 2023 is still expected to be a challenging year for the manufacturing industry.

Microcontrollers (also known as controllers, MCUs and other name variations) are the backbone on which modern vehicles are built. Regardless of whether a car is powered by petrol, diesel, electric, hydrogen, PDG, or anything else, its functionalities will be heavily dependent on controllers.

The RFID industry is expected to maintain its growth trajectory, with IDTechEx forecasting a market value of US$14 billion in 2023, up from US$12.8 billion in 2022. This market value encompasses various RFID form factors, including labels, cards, fobs, and tags, as well as scanners, software, and services for both active and passive RFID technologies. Among these, the "Passive RFID Tags" segment stands out as the largest, comprising more than half of the total RFID market.