KYOCERA @ CES 2020

“Kyocera is celebrating its 60th anniversary in Las Vegas, where many of our latest solutions will get their first US unveiling right here at CES!” Jay Scovie, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Communications and Education, opened Kyocera’s appearance at CES 2020, and introduced a selection of exclusive innovations to the world. Welcoming thousands of visitors each day, the Kyocera booth was divided into five areas, each one presenting a different device or technology, and each demonstrating how these technologies have the potential to shape our lives in wonderful new ways.

Since it was first held over fifty years ago, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been where some of the most important technological advances have made their debut to the general public. For CES2020, several thousand exhibitors from fields ranging from home entertainment to manufacturing to finance to automobiles arrived in Las Vegas from around the world, and over 170,000 visitors attended CES in 2020 to see what exciting possibilities the future will hold.

An AI Camera That Can Recognize What’s Around You, and What Isn’t

What if your car could not only warn you when there’s something behind you, but could also tell you when there’s space available for you to park? The AI Solutions display area at our CES booth gave visitors a look at the capabilities of Kyocera’s exclusive AI Camera. As they stood in front of the AI Camera, an artistically rendered image of them was projected onto the large display screen. The image, however, was only of them, not the other objects around them; the AI system could recognize when there were humans standing in front of it, and separate them from surrounding scenery. Project leader Takashi Maekawa explained, “the AI Camera will be able to recognize vehicles, bikes, or people, and will be an important part of autonomous driving.”

In addition, the AI Camera will also make parking much more convenient. Parking assistance has been around for some time, but up to now its capabilities have been very limited. In particular, existing systems can only recognize parking spaces by seeing clearly painted lines. This makes them unable to handle old and worn parking lots, parking lots without paint, or parking in rain and snow. Only Kyocera’s AI Camera is capable of locating spaces and assisting with parking even if there are no lines marking the space.

Fusing Camera and LIDAR Capabilities into a Single Powerful Sensor

Imagine if while you were watching the road, your car was watching it too? At the Sensor Solutions display area in Kyocera’s CES booth, visitors could discover the exclusive Camera-LIDAR Fusion Sensor. As they walked in front of the sensor, a scanned LIDAR image was projected onto a screen, using color to show everyone’s distance. Beneath this, an image was shown combining the camera image with the LIDAR’s distance data to produce 3D and camera data of everyone in the area. This illustrated how the LIDAR-Camera Fusion Sensor can provide vehicles with much more detailed information about vehicles, people, or obstacles in their vicinity.

What makes this system unique is the innovative fusion of LIDAR and camera technology. While LIDAR sensors alone can accurately measure an object’s distance, they are not able to see surface details. Cameras, in turn, can see high-resolution surface features and colors, but are not able determine how near or far an object is. Many sensor developers have tried to combine LIDAR with cameras to get the best features of both, but they have run into a big obstacle: parallax distortion. When the LIDAR and camera are in separate units, they see from different viewpoints, creating parallax distortion. To handle this, careful calibration of the LIDAR sensor and camera is necessary, but this calibration will be disrupted by normal driving conditions. Kyocera’s exclusive LIDAR-Camera Fusion Sensor, however, brings both devices into a single unit that sees through a single lens, eliminating parallax and making it possible for use in normal driving. Project Manager Hiroyuki Minagawa explains, “by bringing camera data and LIDAR data together, we are able to create a world’s-first extremely high-resolution 3D image of the road. This is exclusive to Kyocera.”

Making the Future of 5G a Reality

5G is the next wave of mobile technology and is expected to offer speeds over 100 times faster than current networks can provide. 5G networks are being built around nearly every urban center, and are expected to extend worldwide during the 2020s. Visitors to the 5G Solutions area of the Kyocera booth were able to see concept designs of our future 5G devices, and learn more about just how this technology can have a positive impact on society.

Among the items on display were concept designs of Kyocera’s rugged 5G Tablets and Smartphones. 5G will mean more than just high speeds, it will enable mobile technology to be used in situations that were out of reach for previous systems. “Kyocera has been on the forefront of 5G technology, and will be developing devices that will be of great assistance to first responders and others,” explains Curtis Wick, a 5G Project Manager at Kyocera. First responders working in emergency situations will be able to get and receive valuable information about their surroundings, to upload high-definition video to doctors at hospitals and receive guidance from the doctors in order to provide better emergency treatment. 5G can also have new applications in agriculture, allowing farm equipment to monitor the health status of their livestock down to the individual animal, keeping farmers better informed and better able to ensure the health and safety of their stock. Kyocera is developing a 5G tablet specifically for farm use, featuring a rugged design that also has antibacterial coating for added safety.

Another device on display was Kyocera’s 5G Smart Router. This will enable users to take advantage of the high speeds and bandwidth of 5G without needing to replace all of their older devices. The smart router will be capable of linking with all existing connection formats, allowing users to upgrade devices such as smart TVs, smart-home devices, and much more. It will also allow the development of system environments that meet a diverse range of client needs, including edge computing solutions that improve security, latency and throughput.

Mobility Solutions that Help Drivers Keep Their Eyes on the Road

As vehicles offer new features for drivers, it is important to ensure that they can focus on the road without distractions. At the Advanced Mobility area of the Kyocera booth, visitors could experience Kyocera’s latest technologies to help to keep drivers safer as they navigate traffic. The first of these is Kyocera’ exclusive 3D-AR Head-Up Display, which projects a 3D virtual image on the windshield so drivers can get important vehicle and road information without needing to look down at the dash panel. The system employs a parallax barrier and driver eye-tracking to create a 3D image that’s sharp and easy to read. The positioning of the image even adjusts based on the speed of the vehicle to prevent blurring as drivers look further down the road.

Another technology on display was Kyocera’s HAPTIVITY® real-touch sensory feedback system, which allows drivers to make more accurate and precise selections on touchscreen panels with button-like haptic feedback so drivers know when a function as been activated on the screen. The system uses a piezo element and controller to provide a distinct sensation every time a touchscreen button is pressed or a selection is made, so drivers can make adjustments easily and safely.

New Healthcare Innovations Derived from Smartphone Technology

Health is a major part of quality of life, and many of us are looking for new ways to monitor, manage, and improve our own health. Kyocera is also looking for ways to help people care for themselves, and visitors to the Advanced Technologies area at the Kyocera booth could learn about a new device that may help them to do so. The new Carbohydrate Monitoring System has the potential to become an important health management tool. “It makes it possible to measure your blood carbohydrate levels without the need for needles or blood samples,” explains Hiromi Ajima of Kyocera’s Medical R&D Center.

Using the same gyro sensor found in your smartphones, this device is able to detect the slight pressure variations in one’s pulse that change in response to blood carbohydrate levels. After monitoring the pulse for just eight seconds, the data is sent to a Bluetooth-linked smartphone app, which then provides a detailed analysis, comparing the results with the user’s past history and other factors. While still in development, the Carbohydrate Monitoring System has the potential to make a huge difference in the lives of people with prediabetic conditions, or people looking to manage their weight.

New Advances in Heating and Energy

Also at the Advanced Technologies area of the Kyocera booth were two devices already in use for energy production and temperature management, both of which make use of Kyocera’s original specialty, ceramics.

The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell system produces electricity from hydrocarbon fuels such as natural gas or propane, which produces less CO2 than other fossil fuels. The units are made up of arrays of thin, flat cells that maximize efficiency and reliability. The ENE-FARM Type S unit, developed for residential use and capable of producing up to 700 Watts of electricity, has achieved an efficiency of 53.5%, the highest in the world for this type of fuel cell system.

Another item on display was the Peltier Module, also known as a Thermoelectric Module, based on Kyocera’s advanced ceramics technologies. This module utilizes the Peltier effect to enable rapid cooling and heating by applying an electric current, with its effect switchable by changing polarity. This reversible temperature control system is able to cool or heat itself within just a few seconds, making it ideal for applications requiring precise temperature control, such as in medical testing equipment. It is also useful for managing temperatures to extend the lifetime and efficiency of HEV batteries, and for rapid climate control systems in car seats.