100 Stories2003 The Technology that Supports Smartphones! The Electronic Compass

Smartphones have become an indispensable tool. They started spreading around 2010, and in 2021, 90 percent of mobile phone users were using smartphones With the spread of smartphones, social media also became popular and various apps came out. They have become part of our daily lives to the point that getting addicting to them has become a concern.

At a time when smartphones did not exist, changing trains was a struggle, and reaching the desired places at travel destinations was not easy. Nowadays, smartphones navigate us using map apps.

The Electronic Compass that Asahi Kasei developed supports this navigation technology.Similar to the needle of a regular compass, it is a functional electronic part that detects using geomagnetic sensors and even calculates the azimuth of the movement direction.

In 2000, the Central R&D Laboratory’s Senior Researcher, Masaya Yamashita, started its development. He first created a demonstration unit and then decided on its specifications through development planning. He took just the demonstration unit and visited mobile phone manufacturers all over Japan, spending about a year marketing his technology. Based on the results, he decided on challenging specifications that have never been implemented before. He decided on an electronic compass that has magnetic sensors with three axes and a digital interface built in.

The Electronic Compass uses the natural movements that mobile phone users make, accounts for the constantly changing magnetic disturbance, and continues to control the navigation function in real-time. This patented technology caused an innovation that can be considered the start of the IoT.

Its value was unparalleled and it instantly achieved rapid growth. After that, it continued to maintain the largest global share, leading to a major business where approximately 600 million ones were shipped annually.

The developer, Yamashita, also known as Mr. Electronic Compass, says the following about the key point to his success.

“Most engineers are interested in delving into their own technology field, but they do not approach other technology fields that are different. I think that opportunities lie there. If you can come up with a concept that combines more than three completely different fields, you can create innovative concepts that other companies will not want to follow.”

The Electronic Compass takes a magnetic sensor material technology called the hall element as its base. It uses technology from a field that is completely irrelevant to the normal development process, such as software and services.

With the same theory, Yamashita explains the great potential that Asahi Kasei has.

“Currently, engineers from around the world are educated under almost the same standards. Even if they delve into one field, there is nothing that differentiates them from each other. On the other hand, Asahi Kasei has many employees that are well-versed in many fields, increasing the possibility of different technologies coming together in the company. I believe that Asahi Kasei has the potential to create new things.”