Nanomade demos force sensors to Taiwan electronics makers

Nanomade will demonstrate its force and touch sensor technology to Taiwanese manufacturers and brands. The French company says it has ongoing projects with several customers in Taiwan.

The Toulouse-based business is presenting sensors designed to turn metal, glass, plastic and other surfaces into interactive interfaces. It plans to show the technology on laptops, wearables, headphones and other consumer electronics, including metal surfaces used in finished products rather than laboratory models.

The system is based on quantum tunnelling and uses nanoparticle ink on flexible substrates to detect small surface deformations. According to Nanomade's internal benchmarks, the sensors are 75 times more sensitive than standard strain gauges.

Unlike standard capacitive touch systems, which detect contact but not pressure, the sensors can register both. This allows devices to distinguish between a light touch and a firmer press across materials including metal, glass, plastic, wood, textile and carbon fibre.

Nanomade markets the combination of capacitive and force sensing on a single sensor under the Capaforce brand. The sensor stack is thin and flexible enough to be laminated onto existing assemblies without structural redesign.

The approach can also reduce false activation compared with standard capacitive touch systems. Because force detection does not depend on skin conductivity, the sensors can work with gloves and in humid or wet conditions.

Product demos

The demonstrations include force and touch controls on a PC chassis and a metal remote control with gesture detection. Other examples include force-sensitive controls on headphones, as well as smaller implementations on a smart ring and smartglasses.

That product focus reflects Taiwan's position in global electronics manufacturing, particularly in notebooks, peripherals and a wide range of components used by original equipment manufacturers and original design manufacturers. Nanomade is targeting local OEMs, ODMs and consumer brands that want to add touch and pressure input to surfaces not well served by conventional capacitive designs.

Transparent film

Alongside the sensor demonstrations, the company is showing samples of a transparent film developed with PolyIC, a printed electronics specialist. The film combines Nanomade's force sensing with PolyIC's transparent capacitive technology in a single flexible layer.

Nanomade says no equivalent product combining both functions in a transparent format is currently available. The samples are being shown to Taiwanese companies ahead of broader commercial availability later this year.

The company's design office brings together chemistry, materials physics, electronics, software and signal processing. These teams work with customers from sensor evaluation through proof-of-concept development and then toward manufacturing.

Evaluation kits are available for companies that want to test the technology, and technical assessments can begin directly with Nanomade's engineering team.

Patent portfolio

Founded in 2019 in collaboration with LAAS-CNRS, Nanomade develops thin deformation sensors based on its patented quantum tunnelling process. The company says it holds 20 patents and files one to two more each year.

Its sensors are designed to detect touch, force, proximity, gestures, pressure, deformations and impacts across a wide range of materials. Nanomade serves markets including consumer electronics, automotive, aerospace, defence and medical devices.

The company lists Airbus, Safran and Novares among its clients and partners. Its push in Taiwan points to a stronger commercial focus on Asian hardware makers as device companies look for new ways to build controls into metal and glass surfaces without changing product form factors.

All of the demonstrations are running on finished product surfaces, not lab prototypes.