Touchscreen Technology Changing the Face of Computers

The Power of Touch

A touchscreen is the simplest, most direct way for a person to interact with a computer. Though it is a relatively new technology—brought to market in the 1970s by Elo TouchSystems—the basic way users interact with a touchscreen is age-old: You point to what you want. It’s intuitive for virtually every child and adult in the world today.

Companies in a broad cross-section of industries have successfully harnessed the power of a touchscreen for a wide variety of applications. Airlines use them to simulate aircraft cockpits and train their pilots to fly. Realtors use them to put full-color images of homes for sale a fingertip away from home buyers. Greeting card companies use them to let customers create their own one-of-a-kind cards. Restaurants use them to simplify their point-of-sale terminals. Medical schools use them to teach student nurses how to respond to crisis situations.

Regardless of the industry or application, the essential benefits touchscreen technology provides remain unchanged:

• Touchscreens enable people to use computers instantly, without any training whatsoever.
• Touchscreens virtually eliminate operator errors because users select from clearly defined menus.
• Touchscreens eliminate keyboards and mice, which many find intimidating and cumbersome to use.
• Touchscreens are rugged enough to stand up to harsh environments where keyboards and mice often get damaged.
• Touchscreens provide fast access to any and all types of digital media, with no text-bound interface getting in the way.
• Touchscreens ensure that no space—on the desktop or elsewhere—is wasted, as the input device is completely integrated into the monitor.

How a Touchscreen System Works

Five basic elements make up a complete touchscreen system:

• The touchscreen itself.
• A computer (typically a PC) whose display is fitted with the touchscreen.
• A controller card, which drives the touchscreen and converts each touch into coordinates.
• A software driver program, which communicates between the controller card and the computer’s operating system.
• Application-development software, which enables developers of touch programs to build their own applications and/or customize existing touch applications.

Who is Purchasing Touchscreens?

A diverse group of customers purchase touchscreens to simplify computers and speed access to information for users of their programs. One large group is original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), many of whom recognize the value in eliminating keyboards from their customers’ installations and replacing them with a more intuitive and user-friendly touchscreen interface. OEMs develop touch-based applications in a range of environments, including hospitals, restaurants, factories, gaming establishments, and public facilities such as malls and tourist centers.

Value-Added Resellers (VARs), along with Systems Integrators (SIs) such as IBM, DEC, Apple, and EDS, also purchase touchscreens as part of the systems they design and install for their customers. In many cases, the added value a VAR or SI delivers lies in utilizing the best interface available for a given solution or environment. More and more VARs and SIs today specify touchscreen interfaces, primarily because they want to simplify the man-machine interface.

Large companies also purchase touchscreens as part of the information-technology solutions they develop in-house. For example, many large financial institutions make use of touchscreens at the trading desk, and major retailers like Macy’s and J.C. Penny Co. have invested in touchscreens for various in-store applications.

Elo TouchSystems: Redefining Touch Technology

The founders of Elo TouchSystems recognized early on the potential of a well-designed touchscreen system. For more than two decades, engineers at Elo TouchSystems have been developing and perfecting new touch technologies and products. In the process, they have repeatedly redefined the leading edge of the touch industry. Today, the company holds or controls 27 patents relating to various touchscreen products, including numerous patents on resistive technology, the most popular type of touchscreen in the world today, and several patents on surface wave technology, which delivers durability and reliable performance in rugged, public environments.

The Supporting Cast: Taking a Systems Approach

Like an epic film featuring hundreds of extras supporting the main players, Elo TouchSystems’ product line includes numerous products that are less visible than the touchscreen itself, but are essential to building a complete touch display system. First, Elo TouchSystems provides a complete line of controller cards, which are available in a range of styles: bus and serial configurations, the Apple Desktop Bus specification, and chipsets for OEMs to embed in their own computer boards. Second, the company’s product line includes a complete family of software drivers and software application development tools enabling developers to create touchscreen-driven programs with ease. For example, MonitorMouse« software is an innovative tool that instantly brings touch capabilities to any mouse-driven program. MonitorMouse software enables the touchscreen to emulate the mouse, so that users can pull down menus and perform other routine tasks with their finger. MonitorMouse software is available for the DOS, Windows, OS/2, Macintosh, and Windows NT operating systems.

In addition, Elo TouchSystems offers touchscreens in a broad range of types and sizes to fit popular displays. The company’s touchscreens can be installed on CRTs that are flat, cylindrical, and spherical, or on displays based on electroluminescent (EL), liquid crystal display (LCD), and gas plasma technologies. Many sizes are available, from large, curved units for over-sized monitors to small, flat touchscreens built to fit compact point-of-sale displays.

IntelliTouch: A Touchscreen Breakthrough

IntelliTouch touchscreens, based on surface wave technology, deliver the highest image clarity and durability in the touchscreen industry. When first introduced in 1987, surface wave technology marked a major breakthrough in the industry. Why? Because it was (and remains to this day) the first and only touchscreen constructed solely of glass, with no need for plastic layers, conductive coatings or special CRT bezels. With nothing but glass between the user and an image on screen, surface wave touchscreens offer unmatched clarity and durability. Not surprisingly, when Elo TouchSystems harnessed this technology in its IntelliTouch product line, this family of touchscreens quickly became a favorite among developers of highly graphical, public display systems, such as those found in mall directories, video-gaming terminals, and computer-based training systems.

How Surface Wave Technology Works

Here’s how an IntelliTouch touchscreen based on surface wave technology works: The IntelliTouch touchscreen consists of a clear glass overlay formed to match the shape of the display. Each axis on the overlay has a transmitting and receiving piezoelectric transducer and a set of reflector stripes. The touchscreen controller sends a five megahertz burst to the transmitting transducers which convert the signal into surface acoustic waves. Surface acoustic waves are mechanical waves that propagate in the surface of materials such as glass. The reflector stripes divert the burst across the face of the overlay. When a finger, gloved hand or soft stylus touches the touchscreen, a portion of the wave is absorbed. The resulting change in the received signal is analyzed by the controller and digitized into X and Y coordinates. A Z-axis level is also determined by measuring how much signal was absorbed. Unlike some other technologies, which depend on ratios to determine touch location and thus are prone to drift, IntelliTouch is an inherently stable technology offering drift-free performance.

The IntelliTouch Line

The IntelliTouch family of products is a popular touchscreen choice in a variety of application areas where image clarity and reliability are priorities. For instance, IntelliTouch systems are used in catalogue shopping systems, video lottery kiosks, and in systems providing on-line real estate listings. IntelliTouch products are also commonly used in the growing number of computer-based training programs developed today. Whether it’s training for nurses, pilots, corporate managers or another type of worker, these applications demand the high-level graphics output that IntelliTouch systems provide.

But IntelliTouch products offer more than bright, clear images. Their simple, one-layer construction guarantees toughness and reliability as well. A common problem in many traditional touchscreen products is irreparable damage caused by scratches to the touchscreen’s conductive coating. IntelliTouch touchscreens, with their all-glass construction, resist such surface damage. That makes them capable of standing up to the abuse they often sustain when installed in public settings, such as malls, centers of tourist activity and supermarkets. Drinking establishments across America have also tested the durability of IntelliTouch systems: IntelliTouch displays are found in numerous video-gaming systems (like touch-based poker games) installed in bars, where they have proven they can even withstand abuse from those who lose and take out their frustrations on the game display. The drift-free operation of IntelliTouch displays ensures reliable, consistent performance, without the need for frequent recalibration servicing.

IntelliTouch displays also offer a solution to problems encountered with many touchscreen technologies installed in public kiosks located in colder climates: Users are often unable to activate the touchscreen because they are wearing winter gloves. With IntelliTouch, no such problems arise. IntelliTouch displays respond to every touch, whether the user wears gloves or not.

Sensing Pressure: A Third Dimension

In addition to sensing the location of a touch, IntelliTouch’s surface waves can also sense the pressure of a touch. This added dimension gives IntelliTouch users increased control. For example, a factory-floor worker at an engine manufacturing plant can check out a motor’s performance by revving the engine—all he must do to control the throttle is press harder or more softly on the appropriate icon on the IntelliTouch display.

AccuTouch Touchscreens: An Industry Leader

In addition to surface wave technology, Elo TouchSystems manufactures and markets a second type of touchscreen: resistive technology, the most popular touchscreen in use today. Elo TouchSystems has incorporated its patented resistive technology into its AccuTouch line of touchscreen products. AccuTouch touchscreens deliver cost-effective, consistent and durable performance in environments where equipment must stand up to contaminants and liquid, such as restaurants, factories, and hospitals.

Here’s how the AccuTouch (resistive) technology works: Each touchscreen consists of a glass panel molded to the precise shape of a display’s face. This underlying glass layer is coated with a transparent, conductive layer and then covered by a clear, hard-coated sheet of plastic. This cover sheet is suspended over the glass by tiny separator dots, each less than one-thousandth of an inch thick. When a user touches the touchscreen, the conductive inner surface of the plastic sheet makes contact with the underlying glass. The controller senses the contact and computes X and Y coordinates within a hundredth of a second.

AccuTouch at Work

Most customers select AccuTouch touchscreens for their durability and proven performance in the most demanding applications. When necessary, AccuTouch touchscreens can be gasket-sealed for added protection, making the display watertight. This makes them a popular choice for point-of-sale installations, such as fast-food and fine-dining restaurants, where clerks entering sales information rely on a touchscreen instead of a traditional keyboard. AccuTouch systems are also common in factory floor environments and are often used in applications rated by NEMA (the National Emergency Management Association). In the medical industry, AccuTouch systems stand up to various contaminants to provide a simple, consistent interface for healthcare providers.

Versatility: Working with a Gloved Hand

Unlike many touchscreen technologies, both AccuTouch and IntelliTouch displays can be activated with a gloved hand. This is a critical capability not only in public kiosk installations but in many industrial applications as well. Food handlers, hospital employees, factory personnel and other workers often wear gloves on the job. Sometimes workers have no choice in the matter. In states such as New York, laws are now in place requiring all food handlers to wear gloves. With a solution from Elo TouchSystems, touch response remains consistent, whether the user wears a glove or not.

What’s Next: The Future of Touch Technology

Throughout the second half of the 1990s, several distinct trends will shape the fast-growing touchscreen marketplace. First, touchscreen prices will continue to drop steadily as volume builds. At the same time, touchscreen performance capabilities will increase even further. This favorable shift in touchscreen price/performance ratios will drive up sales, particularly as PCs make forays into uncharted territories where a user-friendly interface is vital for inexperienced computer users.

For its part, Elo TouchSystems plans to ensure that its new touchscreen products continue to keep pace with new displays coming to market. At the same time, Elo TouchSystems will concentrate on delivering its customers products that take full advantage of new micro-processor and software technologies as they hit the streets—for example, the Power PC chip and developments on the operating system front. In general, Elo TouchSystems plans to ensure that it maintains its leadership position in the touch industry, with an eye toward once again redefining the leading edge of the touchscreen marketplace.

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