Boréas Introduces First Solid-State Haptic Buttons for Smartphones

Solid-state buttons replace mechanical buttons that wear out and enrich the user’s tactile experience

BROMONT, Québec--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Boréas Technologies, a pioneer in ultra-low-power haptic platforms, today announced the industry’s first solid-state haptic buttons for smartphones. Boréas CapDrive^® Haptic Buttons reinvent the user interface on the sides of the smartphone by replacing the old mechanical button interface with high-definition, localized haptic buttons that can mimic the exact feel of a mechanical button while also enabling more immersive, realistic and satisfying touch experiences.

“The smartphone industry has been stuck with the mechanical button paradigm since the first smartphones revolutionized the cellphone industry,” said Simon Chaput, founder and CEO of Boréas Technologies, “Today Boréas is offering the first serious alternative to mechanical buttons. Our new CapDrive Haptic Buttons combine familiar experiences with completely new tactile capabilities.”

Configurable Haptic Buttons Enrich User Experience

Boréas CapDrive Haptic Buttons offer two types of solid-state buttons: standard buttons that provide richer, more realistic button-click sensations, and sliders, which sense movement through swiping. Smartphone designers can use the new buttons to replicate the feel of existing mechanical buttons for simple tasks such as turning the power on/off while offering uniquely new experiences that still feel familiar to smartphone users. When taking photos, for example, the user gets the same partial button-depress sensation as with a DSLR camera when focusing the lens and the same full button-depress feeling when “snapping” the shot. Going online by phone is easier because the user can browse with one hand by using a haptic slider-button that feels like a trackwheel mouse, which even mimics the familiar tick-tick sensation on the fingertip as the pages scroll by. Unlike mechanical buttons, which always feel the same, or the centralized whole-hand vibration effect widely used in non-piezo smartphone haptics, Boréas CapDrive Haptic Buttons can be programmed to provide subtle and localized effects on the buttons themselves.

Key Features of Boréas CapDrive Haptic Buttons

Boréas CapDrive Haptic Buttons are a platform based on the Boréas CapDrive BOS0614, a multichannel, ultra-low-power piezo haptic driver with integrated force-sensing.

Boréas CapDrive Haptic Buttons offer a compelling set of features:

• Ultra-low-power — 10x-13x more power-efficient than mechanical technologies (e.g., strain, voice coil) as well as competitive piezo drivers.
• Tiny size — packaged in a WLCSP (2.1x2.5x0.5 mm), the BOS0614’s small size and four channels support up to four buttons in a miniature footprint.
• Robust and resilient — rated IP68 for waterproof design, Boréas CapDrive Haptic Buttons are natively immune to environmental contaminants such as dust or oil.
• Dynamic “rocker” — actualizes lengthwise sliders that detect swipes, clicks and taps, all with localized haptic feedback, making smartphones more versatile, interactive and intuitive.
• Zero Power Sensing (ZPS)— keeps the power consumption under 10 μA in sleep mode, allowing the chip to wake up in less than 100μs when it detects a click.
• Aesthetics — streamlines industrial design by losing mechanical button “bumps.”

For More Information

Boréas CapDrive Haptic Buttons and the CapDriveBOS0614 are available today from Boréas Technologies. For more information, visit https://www.boreas.ca, contact us by email: [e-mail] or schedule a private meeting at Boréas’ suite at 2024 International CES (January 9-12, 2024, Las Vegas, Nev.).

About Boréas Technologies

Boréas Technologies Inc. is an award-winning fabless semiconductor company commercializing ultra-low-power piezo IC platforms in consumer and industrial markets. With origins in research conducted at Harvard University, Boréas is based in Bromont, Québec and is supported by a global distribution network. The company’s CapDrive ICs are ideal for resource-constrained devices such as PC trackpads, smartwatches and fitness trackers, smartphones and gaming phones, VR game controllers and peripherals, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

The Boréas logo and CapDrive are registered trademarks of Boréas Technologies Inc. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.