Synaptics, in partnership with industrial design studio Pilotfish, collaborated in the design of the next-generation phone concept, Onyx. Enabled through Synaptics clear, capacitive sensing technology, Onyx illustrates the future of mobile communications by combining an intelligent and adaptive user interface with sleek industrial design and next-generation user interaction design.The new concept phone uses Synaptics’ ClearPad, an optically clear, capacitive touch screen solution, to create a fully adaptive user interface (UI). The ClearPad input system eliminates the traditional mechanical keys found on phones today and dramatically adapts to present the information and controls a user needs at any given moment.

More intelligent than conventional touch screens, the ClearPad accurately recognizes not only points and taps, but also shapes, complex gestures, and proximity to the user’s finger or cheek. This creates new possibilities such as assigning functions to two-finger taps, closing tasks by swiping an “X” over them, sending messages by swiping them off the screen, or answering a phone by holding it up to your cheek. The prototype phone uses a dynamic UI, where applications are layered and opened simultaneously, allowing a seamless flow of information between applications.

“Mobile phones are no longer used just for making calls — they have become a single access point for critical day-to-day information,” explains Clark Foy, vice president of Synaptics. “The Onyx phone is a breakthrough illustration of how advances in interface technology and collaborative design will drive the future of mobile interactions and services.”

See more of the Onyx concept phone

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