Everybody knows about fiber optics; that’s the glass
technology that can bring high-speed broadband Internet access to your home or
office. But why would you find it in the Exhibit Hall at Display Week 2014? The
answer is that images are information, too, and the same fiber optic features
that carry bits of data also make it possible to deliver images where you want
them. INCOM has some interesting
demonstrations of its fused fiber optic technology on display in its booth.
For example, consider the control panel created by one of
the company’s partners: Fairlight.
Fairlight makes controllers for use in professional audio and video editing.
The software used for these tasks is very complex, and the controllers have
keys that provide quick access to the different commands. It would take an acre
of buttons, however, to cover all the different choices.
The solution is to provide context-sensitive keys; each key
takes on a different function depending on the type of task you’re doing. The
problem with this is that it would be confusing to mark all the possible
functions on each key. What is needed is a way to change the content of the
individual keycaps on the fly. And that is what INCOM’s technology makes
possible.
The trick relies on a simple, low-cost LCD panel mounted
inside the control panel. INCOM’s fused fiber optics blocks channel the light
from the panel to the keycap. Then by changing the image displayed by the
panel, the image on the key cap changes. And you get an instantly changing
control panel without the cost and complexity of creating separate displays for
each key.
INCOM has used this technology to create controls and
display panels for everything from flight simulators to slot machines. The
company originally made the materials out of glass but has since added polymer
products that reduce weight and cost. INCOM can make just about any shape or
size button or display that a client would need. And it makes it possible to
get your image from here to there in a flash. -- Alfred Poor
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