Analog Devices announced an optical sensor for gesture recognition, which improves sensing accuracy and reliability over existing solutions by measuring a subject’s position, proximity, and gestures from a single sensor. Competitive solutions requiring multiple sensors are often inaccurate, as the sensors “see” objects differently from varying angles making the signals difficult to combine.
The single-point sensing used in the ADUX1020 optical sensor improves reliability of the application and reduces design complexity and cost for the system developer by requiring fewer components. Gesture recognition is an emerging user interface method in building and industrial control panels, where a user interacts with a device simply by motioning or gesturing. It is especially important in situations where touch-screen interfaces are challenged, such as in wet conditions, when a user is wearing gloves, or when a control panel is difficult to reach.
In addition to single-point sensing, the ADUX1020 optical sensor features high ambient light rejection, which allows reliable and accurate operation under challenging lighting conditions. This too results in a more reliable application end user experience. Other optical sensors are often challenged by ambient light from sources like full sun, high frequency LED and fluorescents, all of which can disrupt the sensor’s ability to interpret gestures accurately.
