6 Interesting Sensor Applications — Atonm Technology

Sensors power many aspects of modern life, yet the word "sensor" may still feel unfamiliar to many because sensors usually operate behind the scenes. They are embedded at the root of application scenarios and interact with everyday life indirectly rather than directly.

Although sensors themselves are technically unobtrusive, they create surprising, sensitive and delightful experiences when combined with applications. Below are several interesting sensor use cases that showcase sensors’ capabilities.

Google Project Soli — Gesture Interaction

Project Soli uses radar to detect fine hand gestures. Radar transmits electromagnetic waves and receives echoes from targets to infer distance, radial velocity, direction and elevation. Google ATAP adapted radar into a sensor capable of capturing subtle hand movements and interpreting intent for wearable and computing devices.

By analyzing high-frame-rate radar signals, the system recognizes hand gestures such as swipe, pinch and spread, enabling virtual controls like resizing clocks or pausing media with natural gestures.

Swept-Frequency Capacitive Sensing (Touché)

Disney Research’s Touché is a low-cost sensing technique that enables rich interaction by sweeping many frequencies to build a dynamic capacitive profile. It can detect touch, proximity and complex gestures on everyday objects and even unconventional materials like water.

Touché uses a compact custom board with battery and Bluetooth, allowing objects and wearables to gain affordable, responsive touch capabilities.

Ultrasonic Sensors

A popular example is a box that can "follow" its owner. An ultrasonic sensor combined with Bluetooth and a microcontroller can determine the matched phone’s direction and distance, enabling the box to move on a motorized track to stay close to its owner.

Jacquard Smart Jacket

Levi’s and Google’s Jacquard integrates conductive yarn and touch-sensitive materials into a jacket cuff so wearers can interact with their phones through gestures on the clothing. The cuff embeds sensors, Bluetooth transmitter and receiver to turn clothing into an input device.

IMU Sensors (Inertial Measurement Unit)

IMUs combine accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers to capture rotational and translational motion. IMUs are essential for VR headsets to track head orientation and position with low latency; accurate IMU sensing reduces motion sickness and improves the user experience.

EMG Sensors (Electromyography)

EMG sensors measure surface muscle electrical signals (sEMG) and can be used in wearables to detect facial expressions or muscle activity. For example, a novelty hat that raises "ears" when the wearer smiles uses EMG sensors on the forehead to detect muscle contractions and trigger actuators.

These examples show how sensors gain expressive power when combined with systems. Sensor companies benefit from cross-industry collaboration to create richer applications rather than relying on sensors alone.