Well can you imagine a world where you don’t need to use keyboards or mouse while using computers? imagine a world were you got the information literally at your fingertips. want to know which is the nearest station on your navigation tool or book tickets for movies or carry a notebook in hand and while waiting at the bus stop just move your fingers and check information. Does that Sounds incredible?? Well soon it’s going to be a reality. It’s already started with mobile phones and now just in a few years time it would apply to the computers too. If you happen to see James Cameron’s latest movie “Avatar” you can see how easy and efficient this touch screen technology can be to us in future.
Here’s a story of how it started? What’s touch screen technology…….the past, present and the future
what is touch screen?
A touch screen can be defined as a computer display screen that also acts as an input device. These screens are sensitive to pressure and a user interacts with the computer by touching pictures or words on the screen.
How did this technology originated?
This Technology was invented by a person named Jason ford of EL Touch systems .He was the founder of this company who started or invented the touch screen technology.
The first "touch sensor" was developed by Doctor Sam Hurst (founder of Elographics) in the year 1971. while he was an instructor at the University of Kentucky. This sensor was called the "Elograph" was patented by The University of Kentucky Research Foundation. Although it was not transparent like modern touch screens, it was a significant milestone in touch screen technology
In 1974, the first true touch screen incorporating a transparent surface came on the scene developed by Sam Hurst and Elographics. In 1977, Elographics developed and patented five-wire resistive technology, the most popular touch screen technology in use today. The company changed its name in Feb 24.1994 from Elographics to Elo Touch Systems.
These are the following touch screen technologies
Resistive: This technology offers about 75% clarity. It works on the principle of thin metallic electrically conductive and resistive layer that causes a change in the electrical current. This is registered as a touch event and sent to the controller for processing. They are sensitive and also affordable. They are resistant to outside elements like the water or dust. However they can be damaged by sharp objects.
Capacitive: This technology is based on electrical charges that are stored in the material that’s coated onthe screen. The point that’s touched draws a small amount of charge. Circuits located at each corner of the panel measure the charge and send the information to the controller for processing. These screens must be touched with fingers to transfer the charge. The advantage of this technology is that it has high clarity and it’s not affected by factors like dust or water.
Surface wave: This technology is more advanced and offers a high resolution. It makes use of ultrasonic waves .These waves move over the touch screen panel.A portion of the wave is absorbed when the screen is touched. This causes the disturbance which is noted and its send to the central processing unit which then carries of the function of processing the input information and displaying the output on the screen.
Infrared touch screen monitors.
There are two types of infrared monitors
1) The first one works on infrared or thermal waves however it’s affected by external factors like cold hands or objects and also its slow in processing the information.
2) The second type works on the technology using grids.These are both vertical and horizontal infrared sensors across the perimeter of the screen.It creates a grid as a result it can locate the point where the screen is touched and sends the information for processing. These are mostly used in industrial and military operations.
Today touch screen technology is used in cell phones,navigation gadgets and also at terminals like ticket counters and payphones, Kiosks etc. The advantage of this technology is that it’s easy to use, fast and quite user friendly. It can be used from a child to an elderly person as one just needs to select the icons on the screen and get the information.
Here's a video from Microsoft that shows how this technology would be used in future for our day to day activities making life simple.
