VietNamNet Bridge – Three young Vietnamese men have developed sensing touch switches and an integrated solution package for smartphones based on capacitive sensor technology.

Nguyen Duc Tai and Nguyen Tuan Anh (first and fourth from the left).

Tuan Anh, one of the three inventors, said he learned about capacitive sensors when studying the features of the microcontroller chip made by Texas Instruments, a well-known US electronics group.

“By that time, the capacitive sensor technology had been widely used in smartphone models,” Anh explained. “Later, many products used for smarthome solutions turned up in the market. And all of them were imports.”

“That was how the idea of making a sensing touch switch for smart homes was raised,” he said.

Anh and his two co workers, Nguyen Duc Tai and Dam Dac Quang, who set up a company named Lumi, made a sample product within a short period of time.

However, the first step was the hardest. Though they succeeded in turning their idea into reality, they found it very difficult to call for investment for commercial development.

At first, they used investment capital from parents, relatives and friends. However, the capital quickly ran out, which forced them to call for investment from other sources.

Lumi luckily got support from some strategic shareholders, who provided sufficient capital to carry out production.

The three young men decided that their products needed to be high quality from the very beginning. They imported all the parts and accessories from European and US instrument manufacturers.

Texas Instruments, NXP semiconductor, On semiconductor and Vishay, the big suppliers for Apple, Asus, Dell and HP, were the companies the three young men targeted.

It was difficult to persuade the companies to cooperate with Lumi, a Vietnamese startup, which only placed a small order. However, the foreign partners finally accepted Lumi’s orders after they were convinced about the potential of the products and the Vietnamese market.

As soon as they received the first consignment of parts, they began making products, and then upgraded them. The design was changed to make the products look more modern and luxurious, while the hardware was improved to make it easier to replace accessories, and to make it safe and energy-saving.

Designed in an Italian style, with a cover made of luxurious reinforced glass, and safe for users (the product does not use a mechanical on/off switch), the Lumi sensing touch switch has many features that cannot be found in other products of the same kind.

Quang believes that the device will become a trend like smart homes.

Quang said the product was designed in a way to ensure that it fits current electrical infrastructure. It is highly compatible with other electrical devices and is easy to install.

Thanh Mai