INDEX

S.no. Contents Page No.

1. Introduction 2

2. History Of Touchscreen 3

3. Touchscreen Anatomy 5

4. Construction 6

5. Development 7

6. Touchscreen Technologies 8

7. Comaparison Of Technologies 14

8. Applications 16

9. Human Machine Interface 17

10. Ergonomics and Usage 19

11. Review of The iPod Touch 21

12. References 22

INTRODUCTION

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A touch screen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a
touch within the display area. It is a computer display screen that is also an input device. The
screens are sensitive to pressure; a user interacts with the computer by touching pictures or
words on the screen.

The touch screen technology is widely used in PDA, smart phone, PMP, ATM, information
kiosk and many other types of equipment in industrial, medical and commercial environment.
Actually the technology enabling these devices is not new, since it was invented by Dr.
Samuel C. Hurst in 1971. But it becomes hotter after the release of popular iPhone and iPod
touch. With new patents filed for the touch screen technology, Apple brings a new wave to
this mature segment and more companies are involved in this revolution with improved
interactive UI, ICs, assembly modules and software components.

Currently most of the portable devices are using resistive touch screen modules, because this
technology has perfect balance between low cost and required performance. Both stylus and
finger operation are supported. With the resistive touch screen, most of the technical
innovations take place on the GUI system in the host. For example, HTC S1 released a new
UI called touchFLO. This new technology works efficiently with single-touch screen. For
example, the clockwise and counterclockwise finger event on specific screen area will zoom
in/out this part of picture or web page. Sometimes it is more convenient because the user just
need one hand to hold, and the thumb of same hand to operate. The iPhone requires both
hands to operate on-the-go anyway. Yes, even the user can use two fingers of one hand to
operate, but he/she should use the other hand to hold it, unless the device can be installed
somewhere. Besides, HTC S1 supports handwriting and virtual keyboard, iPhone uses virtual
keyboard. Typing European characters on the virtual keyboard might be a good idea, but not
for Asian languages. Some other human machine interactivity research organizations also
invented another new symbolic operation UI system with single-touch screen. For example,
by handwriting an "h" to represent home page, the computer will show up the index for
whole system. This method is deployed in an Automotive PC platform (VIA x86 design), it is
very effective and attractive. The driver can handwrite on the screen while looking at the road
without staring at the screen and touching some buttons. Therefore this UI improved the
safety on the road.

HISTORY OF TOUCHSCREEN

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In 1971, the first "touch sensor" was developed by Doctor Sam Hurst (founder of
Elographics) while he was an instructor at the University of Kentucky. This sensor, called the
"Elograph," was patented by The University of Kentucky Research Foundation. The
"Elograph" was not transparent like modern touch screens; however, it was a significant
milestone in touch screen technology. In 1974, the first true touch screen incorporating a
transparent surface was 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. Touchscreens first gained some visibility with the invention of the
computer-assisted learning terminal, which came out in 1975 as part of the Plato project.
Touchscreens have subsequently become familiar in everyday life. Companies use touch
screens for kiosk systems in retail and tourist settings, point of sale systems, ATMs , and
PDAs, where a stylus is sometimes used to manipulate the GUI and to enter data. The
popularity of smart phones, PDAs, portable game consoles and many types of information
appliances is driving the demand for, and acceptance of, touchscreens.

From 1979–1985, the Fairlight CMI(and Fairlight CMI IIx) was a high-end musical sampling
and re-synthesis workstation that utilized light pen technology, with which the user could
allocate and manipulate sample and synthesis data, as well as access different menus within
its OS by touching the screen with the light pen. The later Fairlight series III models used a
graphics tablet in place of the light pen.

The HP-150 from 1983 was one of the world's earliest commercial touchscreen computer. It
did not have a touchscreen in the strict sense; instead, it had a 9" Sony Cathode Ray
Tube (CRT) surrounded by infrared transmitters and receivers, which detected the position of
any nnon-transparent object on the screen.

Until recently, most consumer touchscreens could only sense one point of contact at a time,
and few have had the capability to sense how hard one is touching. This is starting to change
with the commercialization of multi-touch technology.

Touchscreens are popular in hospitality, and in heavy industry, as well as kiosks such as
museum displays or room automation, where keyboard and mouse systems do not allow a
suitably intuitive, rapid, or accurate interaction by the user with the display's content.

Historically, the touchscreen sensor and its accompanying controller-based firmware have
been made available by a wide array of after-market system integrators, and not by display,
chip, or motherboard manufacturers. Display manufacturers and chip manufacturers
worldwide have acknowledged the trend toward acceptance of touchscreens as a highly
desirable user interface component and have begun to integrate touchscreen functionality into
the fundamental design of their products.

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TOUCHSCREEN ANATOMY

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1. Touch Sensor : A touch screen sensor is a clear glass panel with a touch responsive
surface.A touch sensor is a screen which detects the presence of a human touch. It is the basic
constituent of the touchscreen mechanism. It is a very sensitive surface as below it lies the
basic mechanism of the touchscreen which is responsible for the accuracy and precision of
the touchscreen.

2. Controller : The controller is a small PC card that connects between the touch sensor and
the PC. It is a card which links the touch sensor with the computer software in order to
perform the required operation. It acts as link between the software and the touch sensor.
Thus, it is a very important part of the touchscreen mechanism.

3. Software Driver : The driver is a software update for the PC system that allows the
touchscreen and computer to work together. This part of the touchscreen acts upon the
reaction responsed by the touch sensor and communicated by the controller. Nowadays, there
are many types of softwares present in the market. The manufacturers can use any of them
depending upon the requirement of the customers and the product.

CONSTRUCTION

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There are several principal ways to build a touchscreen. The key goals are to recognize one or
more fingers touching a display, to interpret the command that this represents, and to
communicate the command to the appropriate application.

In the most popular techniques, the capacitive or resistive approach, there are typically four
layers;

1. Top polyester layer coated with a transparent metallic conductive coating on

the bottom
2. Adhesive spacer
3. Glass layer coated with a transparent metallic conductive coating on the top
4. Adhesive layer on the backside of the glass for mounting.

When a user touches the surface, the system records the change in the electrical current that
flows through the display.

Dispersive-signal technology which 3M created in 2002, measures the piezoelectric effect —

the voltage generated when mechanical force is applied to a material — that occurs
chemically when a strengthened glass substrate is touched.

There are two infrared-based approaches. In one, an array of sensors detects a finger touching
or almost touching the display, thereby interrupting light beams projected over the screen. In
the other, bottom-mounted infrared cameras record screen touches.

In each case, the system determines the intended command based on the controls showing on
the screen at the time and the location of the touch.

DEVELOPMENT

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Virtually all of the significant touchscreen technology patents were filed during the 1970s
and 1980s and have expired. Touchscreen component manufacturing and product design are
no longer encumbered by royalties or legalities with regard to patents and the manufacturing
of touchscreen-enabled displays on all kinds of devices is widespread.

The development of multipoint touchscreens facilitated the tracking of more than one finger
on the screen, thus operations that require more than one finger are possible. These devices
also allow multiple users to interact with the touchscreen simultaneously.

With the growing acceptance of many kinds of products with an integral touchscreen
interface, the marginal cost of touchscreen technology is routinely absorbed into the products
that incorporate it and is effectively eliminated. As typically occurs with any technology,
touchscreen hardware and software has sufficiently matured and been perfected over more
than three decades to the point where its reliability is proven. As such, touchscreen displays
are found today in airplanes, automobiles, gaming consoles, machine control systems,
appliances, and handheld display devices of every kind. With the influence of the multi-touch
enabled iPhone, the touchscreen market for mobile devices is projected to produce US$5
billion in 2009.

The ability to accurately point on the screen itself is also advancing with the
emerging graphics tablet/screen hybrids.

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1. RESISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

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Resistive Touchscreens are composed of two flexible sheets coated with a resistive material
and separated by an air gap or microdots. When contact is made to the surface of the
touchscreen, the two sheets are pressed together. On these two sheets there are horizontal and
vertical lines that when pushed together, register the precise location of the touch. Because
the touchscreen senses input from contact with nearly any object (finger, stylus/pen, palm)
resistive touchscreens are a type of "passive" technology.
For example, during operation of a four-wire touchscreen, a uniform, unidirectional voltage
gradient is applied to the first sheet. When the two sheets are pressed together, the second
sheet measures the voltage as distance along the first sheet, providing the X coordinate. When
this contact coordinate has been acquired, the uniform voltage gradient is applied to the
second sheet to ascertain the Y coordinate. These operations occur within a few milliseconds,
registering the exact touch location as contact is made.

Resistive touchscreens typically have high resolution (4096 x 4096 DPI or higher), providing
accurate touch control. Because the touchscreen responds to pressure on its surface, contact
can be made with a finger or any other pointing device.

Resistive touchscreen technology works well with almost any stylus-like object. In some
circumstances, this is more desirable than a capacitive touchscreen, which has to be operated
with a capacitive pointer, such as a bare finger. The costs are relatively low when compared
with active touchscreen technologies. Resistive touchscreen technology can be made to
support multi-touch input.Due to the nature of passive touchscreen design, when "inking"
(taking handwritten notes with a stylus), the user cannot press a large hand down on the
screen while writing. This is the tradeoff between having a dedicated implement (stylus)
versus the ability to use one's fingers as a stylus. A few modern tablets recognize both fingers
and a stylus, and avoid this problem by deactivating recognition for non-stylus input when
the stylus makes contact.

For people who must grip the active portion of the screen or must set their entire hand down
on the screen, alternative touchscreen technologies are available, such as active touchscreen
in which only the stylus creates input and touches from the hand are rejected. However, there

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are now newer touchscreen technologies which allow the use of multi-touch without the
aforementioned vectoring issues.

2. SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVE TECHNOLOGY

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A surface acoustic wave (SAW) is an acoustic wave traveling along the surface of a material
exhibiting elasticity, with an amplitude that typically decays exponentially with depth into the
substrate.

SAWs were first explained in 1885 by Lord Rayleigh, who described the surface acoustic
mode of propagation and predicted its properties in his classic paper. Named after their
discoverer, Rayleigh Waves have a longitudinal and a vertical shear component that can
couple with any media in contact with the surface. This coupling strongly affects the
amplitude and velocity of the wave, allowing SAW sensors to directly sense mass and
mechanical properties.

Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology uses ultrasonic waves that pass over the
touchscreen panel. When the panel is touched, a portion of the wave is absorbed. This change
in the ultrasonic waves registers the position of the touch event and sends this information to
the controller for processing. Surface wave touch screen panels can be damaged by outside
elements. Contaminants on the surface can also interfere with the functionality of the
touchscreen.

Acoustic wave sensors are so named because their detection mechanism is a mechanical, or
acoustic, wave. As the acoustic wave propagates through or on the surface of the material,
any changes to the characteristics of the propagation path affect the velocity and/or amplitude
of the wave. Changes in velocity can be monitored by measuring the frequency or phase
characteristics of the sensor and can then be correlated to the corresponding physical quantity
being measured.
Virtually all acoustic wave devices and sensors use a piezoelectric material to generate the
acoustic wave. Piezoelectricity was discovered by brothers Pierre and Paul-Jacques Curie in
1880, received its name in 1881 from Wilhelm Hankel, and remained largely a curiosity until
1921, when Walter Cady discovered the quartz resonator for stabilizing electronic oscillators.
Piezoelectricity refers to the production of electrical charges by the imposition of mechanical
stress. The phenomenon is reciprocal. Applying an appropriate electrical field to a
piezoelectric material creates a mechanical stress. Piezoelectric acoustic wave sensors apply
an oscillating electric field to create a mechanical wave, which propagates through the
substrate and is then converted back to an electric field for measurement.

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3. CAPACITIVE TECHNOLOGY

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Capacitive sensing is a technology for detecting proximity, position, etc., based on capacitive
coupling effects. Capacitive sensing as a human interface device (HID) technology, for
example to replace the computer mouse, is becoming increasingly popular. Capacitive
sensors are used in devices such as laptop trackpads, MP3 players, computer monitors, cell
phones and others. More and more engineers choose capacitive sensors for their flexibility,
unique human-device interface and cost reduction over mechanical switches. Capacitive
touch sensors have become a predominant feature in a large number of mobile devices and
MP3 Players.

Capacitive sensors detect anything which is conductive or having dielectric properties. While
capacitive sensing applications can replace mechanical buttons with capacitive alternatives,
other technologies such as multi-touch and gesture-based touchscreens are also premised on
capacitive sensing.

Since capacitive screens only respond to materials which are conductive (human finger used
most commonly), they can be cleaned with cloths without accidental command input.
Capacitive touchscreens are more responsive than resistive touchscreens.

A standard stylus cannot be used for capacitive sensing unless it is tipped with some form of
conductive material, such as anti-static conductive foam. However, capacitive-styli-different
from standard-styli can be used as well as finger input on capacitive screens. Capacitive
touchscreens are more expensive to manufacture and offer a significantly lesser degree of
accuracy than resistive touchscreens. They cannot be used with gloves, and can fail to sense
correctly with even a small amount of water on the screen.

Power supplies with high electronic noise can reduce accuracy.

COMPARISON OF TECHNOLOGIES

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 4-Wire Surface 5-Wire
Technology Infrared Capacitive
Resistive Acoustic Wave Resistive

Durability 3 year 5 Year 5 Year 5 Year 2 Year

Stability High Higher High High Ok

Transparency Bad Good Bad Good Ok

Built- Built-
Installation Built-in/Onwall Onwall Built-in
in/Onwall in/Onwall

Touch Anything Finger/Pen Anything Finger/Pen Conductive

Intense light-
Good Good Good Bad Bad
resistant

Response time <10ms 10ms <15ms <20ms <15ms

Following Speed Good Low Good Good Good

Excursion No Small Big Big Big

CRT or CRT or CRT or CRT or LCD

Monitor option CRT or LCD
LCD LCD LCD or LED

Waterproof Good Ok Good Ok Good

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 APPLICATIONS OF TOUCHSCREEN

1. Tablet PCs

A tablet personal computer (tablet PC) is a portable personal computer equipped with
a touchscreen as a primary input device and designed to be operated and owned by an
individual. The term was made popular as a concept presented by Microsoft in 2001,
but tablet PCs now refer to any tablet-sized personal computer, regardless of the
operating system.

Unlike laptops, tablet personal computers may not be equipped with a keyboard, in
which case they use a virtual onscreen substitute. All tablet personal computers have a
wireless adapter for Internet and local network connection. Software applications for
tablet PCs include office suites, web browsers, games and a variety of applications.
However, since portable computer hardware components are low powered,
demanding PC applications may not provide an ideal experience to the user.

HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACE

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Human machine interface (HMI) touch screen panels limit and/or remove the need for pens,
typing, and mouse click interaction with computers. These types of applications are making
there way into individual, commercial and governmental operations on an increasing basis.
At first the benefit of such computing may seem superficial or redundant, however it is clear
the benefits of such computing are quite significant. HMI touch screen panels are currently
used in a number of places including those provided below:

*Airport
*Self
*Pin
*Business
*Government
*Interactive Educational tools

COST EFFECTIVENESS OF HMI TOUCH SCREEN PANELS:

Human machine interface touch screen panels can reduce the costs of product manufacturing
and potentially increase profit margins by both improving brand and lowering production
costs. For example, cell phones and DVD Players use buttons and remote controls. Touch
screens phones and remotes can eliminate the need for buttons, and expand the function of
both the phone and the remote allowing it to incorporate new technological integrations
without adding cost. A few of the cost related advantages of HMI touch screens are listed as
follows:

*Space cost savings

*Eliminates the need for component parts such as buttons on cell phones
*Makes possible a greater range of computer functions thereby adding value
*Reduces the need for labor within various service industries

EFFICIENCY OF HMI TOUCH SCREENS:

Touch screens are also more efficient than traditional computer interactions. Moreover, at
present there are more keyboard, pen activated or mouse click interactive computers than
touch screen and/or 3D command screens. These additional tools can slow down a worker or
computer users efficiency depending on the application being used. A few of the advantages
to efficiency of HMI are outlined below.

*Allows other psychological functions to be freed for other tasks

*Touch screen based feedback may improve performance and productivity
*Quicker access to information

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TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANTAGES OF HMI TOUCH SCREENS:
There are also several technological benefits to HMI touch screens. These devices are
innovative and capable of higher capacity and more elaborate interactive functions. This not
only expands the functionality of a computer and its software but also creates more room for
technological innovation within the same computer space. Some technological benefits

ERGONOMICS AND USAGE

FINGER STRESS

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An ergonomic problem of touchscreens is their stress on human fingers when used for more
than a few minutes at a time, since significant pressure can be required for certain types of
touchscreen. This can be alleviated for some users with the use of a pen or other device to
add leverage and more accurate pointing. The introduction of such items can sometimes be
problematic, depending on the desired use (e.g., public kiosks such as A.T.M.s). Also, fine
motor control is better achieved with a stylus, because a finger is a rather broad and
ambiguous point of contact with the screen itself.

Fingernail as stylus

Pointed nail for easier typing. The concept of using a fingernail trimmed to form a point, to
be specifically used as a stylus on a writing tablet for communication, appeared in the 1950
science fiction short story Scanners Live In Vain.

These ergonomic issues of direct touch can be bypassed by using a different technique,
provided that the user's fingernails are either short or sufficiently long.[citation needed] Rather than
pressing with the soft skin of an outstretched fingertip, the finger is curled over, so that the tip
of a fingernail can be used instead. The thumb is optionally used to provide support for the
finger or for a long fingernail, from underneath. This method does not work on capacitive
touch screens.

The fingernail's hard, curved surface contacts the touchscreen at one very small point.
Therefore, much less finger pressure is needed, much greater precision is possible
(approaching that of a stylus, with a little experience), much less skin oil is smeared onto the
screen, and the fingernail can be silently moved across the screen with very little
resistance,allowing for selecting text, moving windows, or drawing lines.

The human fingernail consists of keratin which has a hardness and smoothness similar to the
tip of a stylus (and so will not typically scratch a touchscreen). Alternately, very short stylus
tips are available, which slip right onto the end of a finger; this increases visibility of the
contact point with the screen.

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Fingerprints
Touchscreens can suffer from the problem of fingerprints on the display. This can be
mitigated by the use of materials with optical coatings designed to reduce the visible effects
of fingerprint oils, such as the oleophobic coating used in the iPhone 3GS, or by reducing
skin contact by using a fingernail or stylus.

Combined with haptics

The user experience with touchscreens without tactile feedback or haptics can be difficult due
to latency or other factors. Research from the University of Glasgow Scotland [Brewster,
Chohan, and Brown 2007] demonstrates that sample users reduce input errors (20%), increase
input speed (20%), and lower their cognitive load (40%) when touchscreens are combined
with haptics or tactile feedback, [vs. non-haptic touchscreens].

Gorilla arm
The Jargon File dictionary of hacker slang defined Gorilla Arm as the failure to understand
the ergonomics of vertically mounted touch screens for prolonged use. The proposition is that
human arm held in an unsupported horizontal position rapidly becomes fatigued and painful,
the so-called "gorilla arm". It is often cited as a prima facie example of what not to do in
ergonomics. Vertical touchscreens still dominate in applications such as ATMs and data
kiosks in which the usage is too brief to be an ergonomic problem.

Discomfort might be caused by previous poor posture and atrophied muscular systems caused
by limited physical exercise. Fine Art Painters are also often subject to neck and shoulder
pains due to their posture and the repetitiveness of their movements while painting.

REVIEW OF THE iPod Touch

The ipod-touch is widely referred to as the iphone without the phone. That’s because the iPod
touch has almost all of the iPhone’s features except for the connection to AT&T’s Edge
Network, meaning that it doesn’t offer nationwide connections to the Internet. Still, with its
big screen, WiFi connection, and 16GB and 32GB storage capacities, if you like the features

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of the iPhone, but don’t want to pay its price tag or two-year mobile phone commitment, give
the iPod touch a look.

The iPod touch may be an indication of where Apple is taking the iPod line: instead of a
small device focused on music playback with some video features added to it, the iPod touch
may signal that Apple is envisioning the iPod growing into a full portable media player.
These devices tend to include large storage capacities, big screens, and WiFi to connect to
networks.

The iPod touch has all of these things, though its storage could stand an upgrade. The key
difference here is that the touch uses flash memory, which is lighter and thinner than the hard
drives used in most portable media players. The touch comes in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB
models currently.

Apple rates the iPod touch as offering 22 hours of audio playback and 5 hours of video.

The touch features the biggest screen in the iPod line up at 2.5 inches. Like the iPhone, it
plays video horizontally and allows you to scroll through your music library in both standard
and Cover Flow modes.

Though the touch has a WiFi connection to allow users to download content and take
advantage of services like Google maps, Safari, and YouTube, there is one key difference
between the touch, the iPhone, and other iPods: Apple charges for software updates to the
touch. While new features are rare on the iPod, and freely and regularly released on the
iPhone, touch users must pay a small fee to add software updates that offer substantial new
features. The fees have run around US$20 recently, but that extra fee for features that are
included on the iPhone may put off some users

REFERENCES

1. http://en.wikipedia.org

2. www.ehow.com

3. www.howstuffworks.com

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4. www.google.com

5. Electronics For You.

6. IEEE Sensors Journal.

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