Redux recently announced its plans for launching a new surface audio and high-fidelity haptic technology into the smartphone world, aiming to refine and push the limits of smartphone design. The technological breakthrough can virtually convert a smartphone’s display into a micro-speaker that doubles as a haptic feedback engine, which can technically allow device manufacturers to evolve their design languages and potentially improve their products’ battery autonomy.
This year, several smartphone manufacturers including Samsung have shifted towards a new design language with the help of bezel-less displays. Contemporary smartphones became thinner and lighter as microchips have undergone the same treatment, but nevertheless, manufacturers are also constrained by certain internal components which seemingly hinder the natural evolution of smartphone design. Redux aims to bring these barriers down with its new surface audio and high-fidelity haptic technology for smartphones, which allows a smartphone’s display to act as a micro-speaker as well as a haptic feedback engine. A micro-speaker is virtually a device designed to propagate vibration through the air to create sound, and Redux display technology is based on similar principles. Using Redux’s technology, device manufacturers can abandon conventional micro-speakers and haptic engines, and in turn, they can either create slimmer and lighter smartphones or repurpose the gained internal space to accommodate a larger battery. Furthermore, due to the fact that Redux’s display technology can act as both a speaker and a haptic motor, software developers can potentially create virtual on-screen buttons that provide visual, audio, and haptic feedback to the user, thus creating the illusion of interacting with real physical buttons.
“Our technology enables smartphone manufacturers to reclaim valuable space within phones,” said Redux CEO Nedko Ivanov, adding that this technological breakthrough has its roots in more than 20 years of research and development. Redux had previously made the technology available for personal computers as well as automotive infotainment system displays, but this is the first time that the company launched its solution into the smartphone world. Redux expects its surface audio and high-fidelity haptic technology to be adopted by smartphones come next year, giving manufacturers the opportunity to abandon haptic engines, speaker grills, and physical buttons for a more compact alternative.