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Toyoda Gosei to Exhibit e-Rubber at CES 2020

December 31, 2019 by Paul Shepard

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. will show a novel material it has developed called e-Rubber, a next-generation rubber that moves with electricity, at CES 2020. This will be the first time Toyoda Gosei has exhibited at CES.

e-Rubber can function both as a soft, flexible and sensitive sensor and as an actuator capable of gentle, human-like movements. Its use in haptics devices can provide a more realistic experience by adding the sense of touch to images (sight) and sound (hearing) in augmented reality (AR), which is expected to grow in use with the spread of 5G wireless technology.

“Venture into Innovation” is one of the key pillars in Toyoda Gosei’s 2025 Business Plan, its medium and long-term business plan. The company is focusing efforts on the development of e-Rubber and other new technologies, taking advantage of the knowledge in rubber, plastics and other fields it has cultivated through development and production of automotive parts and LEDs.

In the automotive field, Toyoda Gosei’s next-generation steering wheels and airbags for autonomous driving cars can be seen in the near-future interior model MX191 exhibited at the booth of Toyota Boshoku Corporation.

Taking advantage of the strengths of e-Rubber as both an actuator and a sensor, e-Rubber devices can simulate the tactile sensations felt when a person touches an object.

Users will experience life-like tactile sensations such as the softness of objects drawn with computer graphics.