Ultrasonic Sensor Planned To Replace Mechanical Buttons On Smartphones

Smartphones – an irreplaceable part of modern life – never stop evolving with a slew of technological advancements in both hardware and software. Recent changes that surprised us include foldable phones, phones with bezel-less display, pop-up camera system and so on. As such, a startup in California, named UltraSense Systems, comes up with an idea of creating a sensor to get rid of physical buttons on smartphones such as volume controls.

It’s easy to notice that major phone makers are trying to lessen the mechanical parts in a smartphone as many as possible, and the said company is not an exception. Having worked on a new way to control smartphones for a long time, UltraSense plans to use ultrasonic sound waves to perform these practices, instead of using traditional buttons. As per the company, it uses a ballpoint-size chip to let people make a call, take photos, or control volume levels by tapping the frame.

As reported, this system is accessible irrespective of how the frame is made from, such as glass, aluminum, steel, or plastic. The chip will hit the market as early as next year, but there’s no word on which brands and which types of devices will have it under the hood.

UltraSense is not the only player working towards altering mechanical buttons. An ex-engineer of Apple is also launching a startup to create a similar chip, and a bunch of companies out there are searching for other solutions. Generally speaking, both manufacturers and consumers will benefit a lot of convenience from this advancement.