A touchscreen is unarguably one of the
hottest market segments in technology. In the United States, the
market for touch screen mobile devices alone is expected to
generate US$5billion in 2009. Ever since the launch of Apple’s
I-phone, there has been a rainfall of touchscreen devices in the
market.
Believe it or not, touchscreens emerged from research labs as
early as the late 1960s. The first commercial computer to use
the technology was the HP-150 in 1983. From then on, the usage
has expanded to kiosks, tourist booths, ATMs, electronic voting
machines, ticket machines, learning and to personalized devices
as well, in varying capabilities.There are a number of technologies that touchscreen
manufacturers have available to them. Ranging from the most
primitive infra-red transmitters detecting non-transparent
objects, screens can now absorb ultrasonic waves, detect touch
through small amounts of electric charge and transmission
through a number of layers.
With differing techniques also come
factors of external damage, clarity and sensitivity to touch.
With the bursting onto the scene of the touchscreen phenomenon
technological developments have picked up pace, but the hardness
of touch, and detection of multiple touches among others remain
unperfected.It is intriguing why an imperfect technology, a tad higher on
the cost side, sometimes lower on quality or number of features
still attracts consumers like bees to a honey pot. The USP of
touchscreen technology is that it’s incredibly easy to use. It
provides for a one to one interaction with the activity that
you’re doing as opposed to punching buttons to get something
done. Using one’s sense of touch and having a colour-based
interface understanding and responding to your command appeals
to the
consumer.
Easy to use interfaces have gone a long way in promoting
touchscreen technology in almost all wakes of life.
Touchscreens put up as much information as you need to perform a
particular task. Even if the task is complex, it simplifies and
breaks down the process, probably explaining each step. This
comes about from adaptability, because of absence of fixed
buttons. While your regular keypad can have only so many keys
with defined functionality, a touch screen can show unlimited
number of ‘keys’ depending on the application that you’re using,
tailor made for whatever action is to be taken. For making a
call, a 0-9 number keypad will be shown; for sending a text
message, a qwerty keyboard interface can be shown.With the increase in popularity, and many of the patents of
touchscreen technology now expiring, there has been a surge of
entrants in the market, not just for the technology, but also
for its auxiliaries like applications used on the devices. Being
integrated into the product, the extra cost of the touchscreen
has almost been eliminated. Rise in quality of the screens,
their capabilities has gone through the roof. The intense
competition will lower prices, increase usability in different
areas, and develop the applications that people have access to.
The purpose of any technology is to do more, with less cost and
touch screens with their interactive panache do just that,
adding on to the human experience.