13 Sep 2022

Hitachi, Ltd. (Hitachi) and Hitachi Building Systems Co., Ltd. (Hitachi Building Systems) announces that they developed a touchless operating panel establishing an elevator without physical floor buttons that allow users to experience a completely new sensation.

This newly developed touchless operating panel replaces the floor buttons normally found in an elevator car and enables elevator users to register a destination floor just by passing a finger over the floor displayed on the panel (LCD monitor), enabling the touchless use of the elevator.

Touchless operating panels

These newly developed touchless operating panels have been adopted to elevators in Tokyo Midtown Yaesu completed on August 31, 2022.

Features of the Touchless Operating Panel:

  • Enabling the Touchless Use of Elevators Just by Passing a Finger over the Panel - An elevator user can register the destination floor just by passing their finger over the floor displayed on the touchless operating panel's monitor in an elevator car. An infrared sensor detects the finger's position and registers the floor, enabling the touchless use of the elevator.
  • Realizing a Futuristic Elevator Design Without Floor Buttons - While conventional operating panels must have as many floor buttons as the building has floors, the touchless operating panel enables the operating panel to be simplified and miniaturized, making unprecedented futuristic elevator designs possible as since it displays floors on an LCD monitor.
  • Panel Screens Increasing User Convenience - The panel has a direct registration screen including the frequently used floors, such as the lobby, that can display a set of up to six floors and information about them, and a keypad registration screen that allows users to enter their destination floor using the numerical pad. The direct registration screen is the initial screen to increase user convenience.

Improve security and convenience

Additionally, the installation of a card reader in an elevator car linked to the panel enables the display of special floors that only people with registered cards have access to on the screen to improve security and convenience at the same time.

It is also possible to flexibly change the floors or floor information that is being displayed based on changes in the building's tenants.