Technology has indeed been switched from the membrane switch to touch screen. The market is now in control of touch screen technology from public facilities such as ATMs, point-of-sales terminals and Kiosks for example, all rather specialised touch applications. Only a few years ago the true mass consumer market use of touch screens was conditioned by Apple's adoption of projected capacitive touch screen technology for the iPhone in 2007. After this other global players, such as Samsung and LG Electronics, also started to use touch technology for their wide range of products. And today, touch screen interfaces are becoming increasingly common in mobile consumer devices.
Leading the touch screen technology market are high-end mobile consumer-electronic devices, such as smart phones and tablets. Here, the two main technologies used are analog resistive and projected capacitive.
The next big markets for touch screens are ebooks, (mobile) game consoles, car displays and navigation devices as well as digital cameras for small to medium size displays. Bigger touchscreens over 10-inch can be more and more found in laptops and PC monitors as well as other screens and TVs.
Along with the current leading technology, capacitive touch, the industry has a dozen other ways of building a touch screen sensor, but not all of them are suitable for devices for the professional high performance and clarity market. Every single one of the roughly 15 different touch technologies has its own strengths and weaknesses and is therefore used in very different applications.
From all technologies projected capacitive is growing fastest, but other technologies are gaining momentum as well, such as embedded LCD in-cell and on-cell touch and optical touch technology, which are not mainstream technologies today, but will become more and more important in the next decade.
Apart from adding touch functionality to more and more commercial consumer devices, the next big topic and also opportunity will be the replacement of ITO, esp. in the two main technologies projected capacitive and resistive.
Today, half of the costs of projected capacitive touch screen modules come from the indium tin oxide (ITO) sensor. The replacement of this widely used ITO sensor electrode material will not only change the game entirely in terms of costs, but also open the gate to bendable, rollable and stretchable electronics with touch functionality.
Along with the leading technology, projected capacitive touch, the industry has a dozen other ways of building a touch screen, but not all of them are suitable for the rapidly growing consumer electronics market that needs high performance and high clarity. Every single one of the 15 different touch technologies has its own strengths and weaknesses and is therefore used in very different applications. Hence, there will not be just one technology in the next decade, but a few that clearly lead the market. Even more so, since touch interfaces are added to more and more existing and new applications with display sizes ranging from only a few inches to over 150 inches. The next game changer will be alternatives for indium tin oxide (ITO) widely used as touch screen sensor material, which is comparably expensive due to the high price of the rare raw material indium. This will not only change the cost structure, but also open the gate to bendable, rollable and stretchable electronics with touch functionality.
Main areas the report covers
The report provides 10 year forecasts for the touch screen market by applications and by technology, giving you an overview of the primary use markets, applicability of the different technologies and application trends. In addition to this, there are chapters on key mainstream and emerging technologies and their future trends all pulled together with summary charts, graphs and profiles of latest company activity.
Forecasts
Touch screen interfaces are becoming increasingly common in mobile consumer devices, such as mobile phones, tablets and e-books. IDTechEx forecasts revenue of the touch screen market to be US$14bn in 2012 and to triple in the next decade. The report provides a 10-year forecasts for the touch screen market by applications and by technology, explaining the primary use markets for each technology.
Targeted Audience
Those developing or making touch screens and transparent conductive films (TCF) of all types. Other interested parties such as chemical companies, equipment manufacturers, technology researchers, investors and supports of the industry.
Source
Understanding the differences Technology: Capacitive and Resistive of Touch Screen
Categories:
Article,
Capacitive,
Resistive,
Touchscreen
Touch screen interface has led to all devices using this technology. Starting from gadget, cell phone up to the ATM machine today has changed from a kerboard into touch screen.
But you may feel the difference between the touch screen technology on the Smartphone or Tablet with the touchscreen at the bank drive-thru. Why is that?
The difference lies in the type of touchscreen, either resistive or capacitive is:
Resistive touchscreens have the advantage of being slightly more accurate, and you can use objects besides just your finger to get them to work. Capacitive touchscreens require a specific kind of stylus to increase the sensitivity of the screen, and such a stylus can be more accurate than your finger.
But you may feel the difference between the touch screen technology on the Smartphone or Tablet with the touchscreen at the bank drive-thru. Why is that?
The difference lies in the type of touchscreen, either resistive or capacitive is:
- Resistive touchscreens sense pressure, from a finger press or a stylus. The surface of the resistive touchscreen flexes under pressure, and the machine detects where the pressure is coming from—that is, which part of the screen you’re touching.
- Capacitive touchscreens don’t rely on pressure, and for that reason they require just the lightest touch. Their electrodes respond to only certain objects, like fingertips. Because you don’t have to use great pressure on a capacitive screen, you can use light swipes and taps to operate the touchscreen.
Resistive touchscreens have the advantage of being slightly more accurate, and you can use objects besides just your finger to get them to work. Capacitive touchscreens require a specific kind of stylus to increase the sensitivity of the screen, and such a stylus can be more accurate than your finger.
Variety of touchscreen technologies
Categories:
Article,
Touchscreen
Resistive touchscreen
A resistive touchscreen panel is composed of several layers, the most important of which are two thin, electrically conductive layers separated by a narrow gap. When an object, such as a finger, presses down on a point on the panel's outer surface the two metallic layers become connected at that point: the panel then behaves as a pair of voltage dividers with connected outputs. This causes a change in the electrical current, which is registered as a touch event and sent to the controller for processing. The cover sheet consists of a hard outer surface with a coated inner side. When the outer layer is touched it causes the conductive layers to touch creating a signal that the analog controller can interpret and determine what the user wants to be done. Resistive touch is used in restaurants, factories and hospitals due to its high resistance to liquids and contaminants. A major benefit of resistive touch technology is it is extremely cost-effective. One disadvantage of resistive technology is its vulnerability of being damaged by sharp objects.
Surface acoustic wave
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 touchscreen panels can be damaged by outside elements. Contaminants on the surface can also interfere with the functionality of the touchscreen.
Capacitive
A capacitive touchscreen panel consists of an insulator such as glass, coated with a transparent conductor such as indium tin oxide (ITO).[11][12] As the human body is also an electrical conductor, touching the surface of the screen results in a distortion of the screen's electrostatic field, measurable as a change in capacitance. Different technologies may be used to determine the location of the touch. The location is then sent to the controller for processing. Unlike a resistive touchscreen, one cannot use a capacitive touchscreen through most types of electrically insulating material, such as gloves; one requires a special capacitive stylus, or a special-application glove with an embroidered patch of conductive thread passing through it and contacting the user's fingertip. This disadvantage especially affects usability in consumer electronics, such as touch tablet PCs and capacitive smartphones in cold weather.
Surface capacitance
In this basic technology, only one side of the insulator is coated with a conductive layer. A small voltage is applied to the layer, resulting in a uniform electrostatic field. When a conductor, such as a human finger, touches the uncoated surface, a capacitor is dynamically formed. The sensor's controller can determine the location of the touch indirectly from the change in the capacitance as measured from the four corners of the panel. As it has no moving parts, it is moderately durable but has limited resolution, is prone to false signals from parasitic capacitive coupling, and needs calibration during manufacture. It is therefore most often used in simple applications such as industrial controls and kiosks.
Projected capacitance
Projected Capacitive Touch (PCT) technology is a capacitive technology which permits more accurate and flexible operation, by etching the conductive layer. An X-Y grid is formed either by etching a single layer to form a grid pattern of electrodes, or by etching two separate, perpendicular layers of conductive material with parallel lines or tracks to form the grid (comparable to the pixel grid found in many LCD displays).
The greater resolution of PCT allows operation without direct contact, such that the conducting layers can be coated with further protective insulating layers, and operate even under screen protectors, or behind weather- and vandal-proof glass. Due to the top layer of a PCT being glass, PCT is a more robust solution versus resistive touch technology. Depending on the implementation, an active or passive stylus can be used instead of or in addition to a finger. This is common with point of sale devices that require signature capture. Gloved fingers may or may not be sensed, depending on the implementation and gain settings. Conductive smudges and similar interference on the panel surface can interfere with the performance. Such conductive smudges come mostly from sticky or sweaty finger tips, especially in high humidity environments. Collected dust, which adheres to the screen due to the moisture from fingertips can also be a problem.
There are two types of PCT: Self Capacitance and Mutual Capacitance.
Mutual capacitance
In mutual capacitive sensors, there is a capacitor at every intersection of each row and each column. A 16-by-14 array, for example, would have 224 independent capacitors. A voltage is applied to the rows or columns. Bringing a finger or conductive stylus close to the surface of the sensor changes the local electrostatic field which reduces the mutual capacitance. The capacitance change at every individual point on the grid can be measured to accurately determine the touch location by measuring the voltage in the other axis. Mutual capacitance allows multi-touch operation where multiple fingers, palms or styli can be accurately tracked at the same time.
Self-capacitance
Self-capacitance sensors can have the same X-Y grid as mutual capacitance sensors, but the columns and rows operate independently. With self-capacitance, the capacitive load of a finger is measured on each column or row electrode by a current meter. This method produces a stronger signal than mutual capacitance, but it is unable to resolve accurately more than one finger, which results in "ghosting", or misplaced location morderning..
Infrared
An infrared touchscreen uses an array of X-Y infrared LED and photodetector pairs around the edges of the screen to detect a disruption in the pattern of LED beams. These LED beams cross each other in vertical and horizontal patterns. This helps the sensors pick up the exact location of the touch. A major benefit of such a system is that it can detect essentially any input including a finger, gloved finger, stylus or pen. It is generally used in outdoor applications and point of sale systems which can't rely on a conductor (such as a bare finger) to activate the touchscreen. Unlike capacitive touchscreens, infrared touchscreens do not require any patterning on the glass which increases durability and optical clarity of the overall system.
Optical imaging
This is a relatively modern development in touchscreen technology, in which two or more image sensors are placed around the edges (mostly the corners) of the screen. Infrared back lights are placed in the camera's field of view on the other side of the screen. A touch shows up as a shadow and each pair of cameras can then be pinpointed to locate the touch or even measure the size of the touching object (see visual hull). This technology is growing in popularity, due to its scalability, versatility, and affordability, especially for larger units.
Dispersive signal technology
Introduced in 2002 by 3M, this system uses sensors to detect the Piezoelectricity in the glass that occurs due to a touch. Complex algorithms then interpret this information and provide the actual location of the touch.[14] The technology claims to be unaffected by dust and other outside elements, including scratches. Since there is no need for additional elements on screen, it also claims to provide excellent optical clarity. Also, since mechanical vibrations are used to detect a touch event, any object can be used to generate these events, including fingers and stylus. A downside is that after the initial touch the system cannot detect a motionless finger.
Acoustic pulse recognition
In this system, introduced by Tyco International's Elo division in 2006, the key to the invention is that a touch at each position on the glass generates a unique sound. Four tiny transducers attached to the edges of the touchscreen glass pick up the sound of the touch. The sound is then digitized by the controller and compared to a list of prerecorded sounds for every position on the glass. The cursor position is instantly updated to the touch location. APR is designed to ignore extraneous and ambient sounds, as they do not match a stored sound profile. APR differs from other attempts to recognize the position of touch with transducers or microphones, as it uses a simple table lookup method rather than requiring powerful and expensive signal processing hardware to attempt to calculate the touch location without any references [15] . The touchscreen itself is made of ordinary glass, giving it good durability and optical clarity. It is usually able to function with scratches and dust on the screen with good accuracy. The technology is also well suited to displays that are physically larger. As with the Dispersive Signal Technology system, after the initial touch, a motionless finger cannot be detected. However, for the same reason, the touch recognition is not disrupted by any resting objects.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org
A resistive touchscreen panel is composed of several layers, the most important of which are two thin, electrically conductive layers separated by a narrow gap. When an object, such as a finger, presses down on a point on the panel's outer surface the two metallic layers become connected at that point: the panel then behaves as a pair of voltage dividers with connected outputs. This causes a change in the electrical current, which is registered as a touch event and sent to the controller for processing. The cover sheet consists of a hard outer surface with a coated inner side. When the outer layer is touched it causes the conductive layers to touch creating a signal that the analog controller can interpret and determine what the user wants to be done. Resistive touch is used in restaurants, factories and hospitals due to its high resistance to liquids and contaminants. A major benefit of resistive touch technology is it is extremely cost-effective. One disadvantage of resistive technology is its vulnerability of being damaged by sharp objects.
Surface acoustic wave
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 touchscreen panels can be damaged by outside elements. Contaminants on the surface can also interfere with the functionality of the touchscreen.
Capacitive
A capacitive touchscreen panel consists of an insulator such as glass, coated with a transparent conductor such as indium tin oxide (ITO).[11][12] As the human body is also an electrical conductor, touching the surface of the screen results in a distortion of the screen's electrostatic field, measurable as a change in capacitance. Different technologies may be used to determine the location of the touch. The location is then sent to the controller for processing. Unlike a resistive touchscreen, one cannot use a capacitive touchscreen through most types of electrically insulating material, such as gloves; one requires a special capacitive stylus, or a special-application glove with an embroidered patch of conductive thread passing through it and contacting the user's fingertip. This disadvantage especially affects usability in consumer electronics, such as touch tablet PCs and capacitive smartphones in cold weather.
Surface capacitance
In this basic technology, only one side of the insulator is coated with a conductive layer. A small voltage is applied to the layer, resulting in a uniform electrostatic field. When a conductor, such as a human finger, touches the uncoated surface, a capacitor is dynamically formed. The sensor's controller can determine the location of the touch indirectly from the change in the capacitance as measured from the four corners of the panel. As it has no moving parts, it is moderately durable but has limited resolution, is prone to false signals from parasitic capacitive coupling, and needs calibration during manufacture. It is therefore most often used in simple applications such as industrial controls and kiosks.
Projected capacitance
Projected Capacitive Touch (PCT) technology is a capacitive technology which permits more accurate and flexible operation, by etching the conductive layer. An X-Y grid is formed either by etching a single layer to form a grid pattern of electrodes, or by etching two separate, perpendicular layers of conductive material with parallel lines or tracks to form the grid (comparable to the pixel grid found in many LCD displays).
The greater resolution of PCT allows operation without direct contact, such that the conducting layers can be coated with further protective insulating layers, and operate even under screen protectors, or behind weather- and vandal-proof glass. Due to the top layer of a PCT being glass, PCT is a more robust solution versus resistive touch technology. Depending on the implementation, an active or passive stylus can be used instead of or in addition to a finger. This is common with point of sale devices that require signature capture. Gloved fingers may or may not be sensed, depending on the implementation and gain settings. Conductive smudges and similar interference on the panel surface can interfere with the performance. Such conductive smudges come mostly from sticky or sweaty finger tips, especially in high humidity environments. Collected dust, which adheres to the screen due to the moisture from fingertips can also be a problem.
There are two types of PCT: Self Capacitance and Mutual Capacitance.
Mutual capacitance
In mutual capacitive sensors, there is a capacitor at every intersection of each row and each column. A 16-by-14 array, for example, would have 224 independent capacitors. A voltage is applied to the rows or columns. Bringing a finger or conductive stylus close to the surface of the sensor changes the local electrostatic field which reduces the mutual capacitance. The capacitance change at every individual point on the grid can be measured to accurately determine the touch location by measuring the voltage in the other axis. Mutual capacitance allows multi-touch operation where multiple fingers, palms or styli can be accurately tracked at the same time.
Self-capacitance
Self-capacitance sensors can have the same X-Y grid as mutual capacitance sensors, but the columns and rows operate independently. With self-capacitance, the capacitive load of a finger is measured on each column or row electrode by a current meter. This method produces a stronger signal than mutual capacitance, but it is unable to resolve accurately more than one finger, which results in "ghosting", or misplaced location morderning..
Infrared
An infrared touchscreen uses an array of X-Y infrared LED and photodetector pairs around the edges of the screen to detect a disruption in the pattern of LED beams. These LED beams cross each other in vertical and horizontal patterns. This helps the sensors pick up the exact location of the touch. A major benefit of such a system is that it can detect essentially any input including a finger, gloved finger, stylus or pen. It is generally used in outdoor applications and point of sale systems which can't rely on a conductor (such as a bare finger) to activate the touchscreen. Unlike capacitive touchscreens, infrared touchscreens do not require any patterning on the glass which increases durability and optical clarity of the overall system.
Optical imaging
This is a relatively modern development in touchscreen technology, in which two or more image sensors are placed around the edges (mostly the corners) of the screen. Infrared back lights are placed in the camera's field of view on the other side of the screen. A touch shows up as a shadow and each pair of cameras can then be pinpointed to locate the touch or even measure the size of the touching object (see visual hull). This technology is growing in popularity, due to its scalability, versatility, and affordability, especially for larger units.
Dispersive signal technology
Introduced in 2002 by 3M, this system uses sensors to detect the Piezoelectricity in the glass that occurs due to a touch. Complex algorithms then interpret this information and provide the actual location of the touch.[14] The technology claims to be unaffected by dust and other outside elements, including scratches. Since there is no need for additional elements on screen, it also claims to provide excellent optical clarity. Also, since mechanical vibrations are used to detect a touch event, any object can be used to generate these events, including fingers and stylus. A downside is that after the initial touch the system cannot detect a motionless finger.
Acoustic pulse recognition
In this system, introduced by Tyco International's Elo division in 2006, the key to the invention is that a touch at each position on the glass generates a unique sound. Four tiny transducers attached to the edges of the touchscreen glass pick up the sound of the touch. The sound is then digitized by the controller and compared to a list of prerecorded sounds for every position on the glass. The cursor position is instantly updated to the touch location. APR is designed to ignore extraneous and ambient sounds, as they do not match a stored sound profile. APR differs from other attempts to recognize the position of touch with transducers or microphones, as it uses a simple table lookup method rather than requiring powerful and expensive signal processing hardware to attempt to calculate the touch location without any references [15] . The touchscreen itself is made of ordinary glass, giving it good durability and optical clarity. It is usually able to function with scratches and dust on the screen with good accuracy. The technology is also well suited to displays that are physically larger. As with the Dispersive Signal Technology system, after the initial touch, a motionless finger cannot be detected. However, for the same reason, the touch recognition is not disrupted by any resting objects.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org
Touch Screen: What All Beginning
Categories:
History
The first touch screen was a capacitive touch screen developed by E.A. Johnson at the Royal Radar Establishment, Malvern, UK. The inventor briefly described his work in a short article published in 1965[5] and then more fully - along with photographs and diagrams - in an article published in 1967.[6] A description of the applicability of the touch technology for air traffic control was described in an article published in 1968.[7]
Contrary to many accounts,[8] while Dr. Sam Hurst played an important role in the development of touch technologies, he neither invented the first touch sensor, nor the first touch screen.
Touchscreens have subsequently become familiar in everyday life. Companies use touchscreens 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.
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 IIT 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 computers. Similar to the PLATO IV system, the touch technology used employed infrared transmitters and receivers mounted around the bezel of its 9" Sony Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), which detected the position of any non-transparent object on the screen.
An early attempt at a handheld game console with touchscreen controls was Sega's intended successor to the Game Gear, though the device was ultimately shelved and never released due to the expensive cost of touchscreen technology in the early 1990s. Touchscreens would not be popularly used for video games until the release of the Nintendo DS in 2004.[9]
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.
The popularity of smartphones, tablet computers, portable video game consoles and many types of information appliances is driving the demand and acceptance of common touchscreens, for portable and functional electronics, with a display of a simple smooth surface and direct interaction without any hardware (keyboard or mouse) between the user and content, fewer accessories are required.
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.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org
Contrary to many accounts,[8] while Dr. Sam Hurst played an important role in the development of touch technologies, he neither invented the first touch sensor, nor the first touch screen.
Touchscreens have subsequently become familiar in everyday life. Companies use touchscreens 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.
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 IIT 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 computers. Similar to the PLATO IV system, the touch technology used employed infrared transmitters and receivers mounted around the bezel of its 9" Sony Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), which detected the position of any non-transparent object on the screen.
An early attempt at a handheld game console with touchscreen controls was Sega's intended successor to the Game Gear, though the device was ultimately shelved and never released due to the expensive cost of touchscreen technology in the early 1990s. Touchscreens would not be popularly used for video games until the release of the Nintendo DS in 2004.[9]
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.
The popularity of smartphones, tablet computers, portable video game consoles and many types of information appliances is driving the demand and acceptance of common touchscreens, for portable and functional electronics, with a display of a simple smooth surface and direct interaction without any hardware (keyboard or mouse) between the user and content, fewer accessories are required.
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.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org
Multitouch Interface Make Interactive Touch Screen
A concept by Microsoft Research, make every surface a touch screen turns any surface in the user’s environment into a touch interface. See video below :
The Wearable Multitouch Interaction prototype capitalize on the tremendous surface area to be wearable, a novel combination of laser-based pico projector and depth-sensing camera.
The camera is an advanced, custom prototype provided by PrimeSense. Once the camera and projector are calibrated to each other, the user can don the system and begin using it.
The Microsoft Research team stresses that, although the prototype is not as small as they would like it to be, there are no significant barriers to miniaturization and that it is entirely possible that a future version of Wearable Multitouch Interaction could be the size of a matchbox and as easy to wear as a pendant or a watch.
The Wearable Multitouch Interaction prototype capitalize on the tremendous surface area to be wearable, a novel combination of laser-based pico projector and depth-sensing camera.
The camera is an advanced, custom prototype provided by PrimeSense. Once the camera and projector are calibrated to each other, the user can don the system and begin using it.
The Microsoft Research team stresses that, although the prototype is not as small as they would like it to be, there are no significant barriers to miniaturization and that it is entirely possible that a future version of Wearable Multitouch Interaction could be the size of a matchbox and as easy to wear as a pendant or a watch.
Diagnosis with saliva on the touch screen
Categories:
Aplication,
Article
Really? It may be a question that you Think when reading the title above. Only by spitting on the tablet screen or mobile phone and then let the application do all the lab work. Maybe this is the effect of the progress of the touch screen interface.
Byoung Yeon Won and Hyun Gyu Park from Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology suggest that all you need to do is press a tiny droplet of the sample against a phone’s touchscreen, and then an app would figure out whether you have food poisoning, strep throat, or the flu, for example. New Scientist reports.
Touchscreens sense a fingertip’s ability to store electric charge – known as its capacitance.
Turns out, the capacitive sensitivity of touchscreens is much higher than what we need on a daily basis (that is, playing games on the subway doesn’t require much sensitivity). “Since these touchscreens can detect very small capacitance changes, we thought they could serve as highly sensitive detection platforms for disease biomarkers,” Park says.
So, the duo devised a way to harness touchscreen power into a lab-on-a-chip and tried to provide some proof-of-concept.
They put drops of 3 different solutions – each containing varying concentrations of DNA from the chlamydia bacteria – onto a multitouch display the size of an iPhone’s.
With drops as small as 10 microliters, the screen was able to distinguish between the capacitances caused by each of the different concentrations of bacteria DNA.
For now, the tech can’t identify specific viruses or bacteria from the sample – but the ability to tell the difference between concentrations is a promising step.
However, any changes to current production-line touchscreens would need to demonstrate huge financial benefits before they’re implemented.
Also, the team’ll need to figure out how to eliminate false-touch signals from sweat and other kinds of moisture. And they also want to make a film that will stick on the screen: “Nobody wants direct application of bio-samples onto their phone,” Park says.
For detail report visit: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228405.800-to-selfdiagnose-spit-on-an-iphone.html
Byoung Yeon Won and Hyun Gyu Park from Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology suggest that all you need to do is press a tiny droplet of the sample against a phone’s touchscreen, and then an app would figure out whether you have food poisoning, strep throat, or the flu, for example. New Scientist reports.
Touchscreens sense a fingertip’s ability to store electric charge – known as its capacitance.
Turns out, the capacitive sensitivity of touchscreens is much higher than what we need on a daily basis (that is, playing games on the subway doesn’t require much sensitivity). “Since these touchscreens can detect very small capacitance changes, we thought they could serve as highly sensitive detection platforms for disease biomarkers,” Park says.
So, the duo devised a way to harness touchscreen power into a lab-on-a-chip and tried to provide some proof-of-concept.
They put drops of 3 different solutions – each containing varying concentrations of DNA from the chlamydia bacteria – onto a multitouch display the size of an iPhone’s.
With drops as small as 10 microliters, the screen was able to distinguish between the capacitances caused by each of the different concentrations of bacteria DNA.
For now, the tech can’t identify specific viruses or bacteria from the sample – but the ability to tell the difference between concentrations is a promising step.
However, any changes to current production-line touchscreens would need to demonstrate huge financial benefits before they’re implemented.
Also, the team’ll need to figure out how to eliminate false-touch signals from sweat and other kinds of moisture. And they also want to make a film that will stick on the screen: “Nobody wants direct application of bio-samples onto their phone,” Park says.
For detail report visit: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228405.800-to-selfdiagnose-spit-on-an-iphone.html
Neonode Touchscreen Company Profile
Categories:
Touchscreen Company
Crystalresearch. Neonode Inc. Touchscreen Company provides optical infrared touchscreen solutions that make handheld to midsized consumer and industrial electronic devices touch sensitive. Neonode operates via a resource-efficient technology licensing model where revenues are primarily generated through non-exclusive, royalty-based licenses to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), original design manufacturers (ODMs), and component suppliers.
The Company's innovative touch technology, for which it holds multiple patents worldwide, is branded zForce®. With zForce, Neonode seeks to rival low-cost resistive touch technologies while outperforming today's advanced capacitive touch solutions. To date, zForce is employed in the Kindle Touch eReader from Amazon.com, Inc. and the Nook eReader from Barnes & Noble, Inc., as well as in eReaders from Sony Corp., Kobo Inc., and Koobe Inc.
The Company has also licensed its display technology to ASUSTeK Computer Inc. and L&I Electronic Technology Co., Ltd (a joint venture between LG Display Co., Ltd and IRIVER Ltd), among other companies in the tablet PC, mobile phone, and automotive sectors. Neonode has headquarters in Sweden with development and sales offices in Santa Clara, California, and Korea.
The Company's innovative touch technology, for which it holds multiple patents worldwide, is branded zForce®. With zForce, Neonode seeks to rival low-cost resistive touch technologies while outperforming today's advanced capacitive touch solutions. To date, zForce is employed in the Kindle Touch eReader from Amazon.com, Inc. and the Nook eReader from Barnes & Noble, Inc., as well as in eReaders from Sony Corp., Kobo Inc., and Koobe Inc.
The Company has also licensed its display technology to ASUSTeK Computer Inc. and L&I Electronic Technology Co., Ltd (a joint venture between LG Display Co., Ltd and IRIVER Ltd), among other companies in the tablet PC, mobile phone, and automotive sectors. Neonode has headquarters in Sweden with development and sales offices in Santa Clara, California, and Korea.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)