Yasui: Humans have five senses and the role of sensors is to complement these. For example, sensors are able to reliably capture and quantify light invisible to the human eye, miniscule sounds, and vibrations, and such information can be used for a variety of purposes.

Yasui: Infrared sensors work in the same way as cameras in that they capture light and convert it to images. Cameras are only capable of capturing light of short wavelengths visible to the human eye (0.4 to 0.8μm), however the infrared sensor we developed, MelDIR, has the ability to capture far infrared rays with a wavelength of 10μm.

Hattori: MelDIR is an infrared sensor that is good at finding people. By using MelDIR, it is possible to clearly capture the silhouette and movements of people, animals, and so on. It is affordable compared to an infrared camera, which makes it easy to use in home appliances, surveillance cameras and other devices that we encounter in our daily lives.

Yasui: MelDIR uses two semiconductor technologies. The first is the CMOS process.
Almost all of the semiconductors available in the world today adopt this technology and it is inexpensive due to its high versatility. The other semiconductor technology used in MelDIR is the "thermal diode method" developed independently by Mitsubishi Electric and used in the temperature sensor portion of this device. The thermal diode method was originally intended for space development purposes, etc. and was used in the CIRC (Compact InfraRed Camera) for earth observation equipped in Advanced Land Observing Satellite, Daichi 2 (ALSO-2). Mitsubishi Electric own the patent for this technology, therefore is able to use it without a license fee. Moreover, MelDIR can be mass produced at Mitsubishi Electric’s existing factories. Minimal investment in new equipment was one of the reasons MelDIR could be provided at a low price.

Hattori: MelDIR is used in Mitsubishi Electric’s room air conditioner, "Kirigamine." It controls room temperature and air flow by measuring the temperature of a room and its occupants. We’ve even been asked by people in the livestock industry if MelDIR could be used for animal health management. Apparently, when animals get too hot, they lose their appetite, and when animals get too cold, they expend energy trying to maintain their body heat. MelDIR can measure an animal’s body surface temperature, so we would be most happy to see it put to use in the livestock industry, too.

Yasui: In the future, we’d like to develop an app where MelDIR could be used to support cooking. For example, an infrared camera could be installed in the kitchen and monitor a frypan until it reaches a suitable heat then the app might say something like "The meat can be placed in the frypan now," which would help make cooking easy and meals more delicious. Also, if oil is left unattended in a fryer, MelDIR could be handy in automatically turning off the heat so that the oil doesn’t catch on fire, making it useful for safety and security purposes, also.

Hattori: All you have to do is set MelDIR in the demo kit, connect it to a computer via a cable, then boot up the software and you can immediately view the thermal images captured by MelDIR on your computer screen. In fact, thermal images look very different to images captured by an ordinary camera, so by viewing the actual thermal images directly at the location, it helps to make the product development process very smooth. For example, if someone is developing an in-vehicle monitoring camera, if they take this demo kit and a laptop into the vehicle they can see exactly how the interior of the vehicle appears in the images and consider the relevant factors in more detail, such as the best location for installing the camera in order to detect small children, etc.

Yasui: MelDIR is small, measuring 19.5 x 13.5 mm and 9.5 mm thick, making it easy to integrate into home appliances and other devices. Not to mention, it is affordable, so it would be great to see people using it in their everyday surroundings. Personally, I think it would be ideal to equip as a standard feature in smartphones. It would be handy for security reasons while we are sleeping, a useful ally in games, or for a variety of other reasons.

Hattori: I am always thinking of how MelDIR can contribute to safety and security. For example, if we take advantage of its characteristic of being able to measure a wide range of temperatures, maybe MelDIR could be useful in surveillance cameras for factories and cold storage. It is also great for places where privacy is a priority, so maybe it could help prevent accidents in places such as sauna rooms, which I’m personally a huge fan of. Even if there is no concrete product plan just yet, if someone has an idea of how or where infrared sensors could be used, we would absolutely love to hear it so that, together, we can help MelDIR grow.