A Touch of the Future: 5 revolutionary touch-controlled devices

Smart phones, tablets, e-books, smart TVs – the abundance of technology surrounding modern man is astounding. There are a lot of inventions, now it’s just a matter of constantly improving these devices, which manufacturers offer. The iconic element that shaped a new class of technology is the touch screen, allowing you to move to a whole new way of control – by touch.

iPhone 5

The first device of this kind appeared almost 40 years ago, in 1972, in the USA. It was the PLATO IV Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operations e-learning computer. Students answered questions by tapping their fingers on a 16-by-16-block infrared grid panel.

Further technological development has led to the fact that the touch screen displays were made of two layers: a glass panel and a flexible plastic membrane, which were coated with resistive coating hence, incidentally, the name “resistive screen” . The display picked up any touch, be it a finger, stylus, gloved hand or even an ordinary pencil. When pressed hard enough, the panel and the membrane would lock and the touch controller, which was part of the touch device, would register the touch.

But rather quickly to replace the resistive technology came capacitive, the principle of which is based on the recognition of touch objects that can conduct an alternating electric current. This display responds only to fingers or special styli. The idea was further developed, and today most displays are made according to the projection-capacitive technology, allowing to work with the so-called “multitouch”. as in “multitouch” . With this function, it is possible, for example, to magnify or shrink the display or turn the pages of an electronic book.

The most modern touch screens are based on technology that uses acoustic waves for touch recognition. Such a display consisted of a single sheet of glass, reflectors, transmitting and receiving transducers. Waves travel across the surface of the screen, and their energy is absorbed by a soft material such as human skin, allowing the device to respond to touch. Screens based on wave technology, because of its high cost have not yet found application in the home and are used in information catalogs, museum exhibits, training systems, gaming and vending machines.

The iPhone: a new class of communication

One of the first smartphones to switch over completely to touch screen operation was the iPhone. In 2007, the world was announced a radically new communicator, consisting only of a screen. The device did not have any moving parts and a keyboard – all the control functions took over the projection-capacitive display phone.

Such a bold move made the interface easier to use – moving between the menu icons became more convenient. Large screen lets you use your phone as a multimedia device, navigation device, internet surfing device. SMS and online communication lovers appreciate the convenience of the touch-sensitive keyboard – no need to repeatedly press the button to enter the required symbol. By the way, the idea of multi-touch was borrowed from a prototype of a tablet PC, the release of which was postponed for a while. Steve Jobs changed his priorities: “When I saw the ribbon, inertial scrolling and a couple of other things, I thought, ‘My God, can we make a phone out of this!” And shelved the tablet project. Because the phone was more important.

In August 2012, Apple received a patent to the new screen – it is assumed that touch elements will be integrated into the liquid crystal display itself. It all goes on that in the future we will see new interesting devices already based on this technology Apple. It will make smartphones thinner and easier to use.

The Busch-Comfort Touch: a new class of home control

Busch-Comfort Panel

Today, Smart Home technology is becoming more and more popular. One of the first companies to develop control devices for this system was ABB, a leader in power equipment and solutions for power and automation. One of the company’s new products is the Busch-Comfort Touch Panel, which features a capacitive 9- or 12-inch display. “The touch&swipe function provides high touch sensitivity, making control easy and effortless,” comments Dinar Sharifullin, product group engineer at ABB i-bus KNX.¹ – On the start page of the Busch-Comfort Touch Control Panel there are icons which can be used to visualize, for example, the layout of the house. And the environment in each room can be controlled individually – just select a room on the display and make an individual scenario. For example, you can adjust the brightness of lights, blinds or air conditioning just by touching the control on the screen.

The touch screen turned the panel not only into a means of controlling processes in the house, but also into an individual communication center. The Busch-Comfort Touch panel lets you receive and send email, compose and read reminders, follow stock news, check the weather. Furthermore, the Busch-Comfort Touch enables full control of access to the house and security of the occupants. The doorbell rings and the owner taps the screen to see who’s standing at the door. The overview display presents all important information – the system will instantly indicate if a window is broken, a balcony door is open or a heating fault is detected.

While being innovative, easy to use and functional, the manufacturer paid a lot of attention to the design of the device. Gone are the cumbersome boxes with dozens of buttons and multi-page instructions. Busch-Comfort Touch attracts by its modern frameless design, which allows the panel to blend seamlessly into any interior.

PocketBook Touch: a new class of reading

PocketBook Touch

First reader was developed by DEC in 1996, it was a compact computer tablet with a monochrome touch screen and pen input capability. In addition to the functionality, the main difference between e-books and ultraportable PCs is a significantly longer battery life. The latter is achieved through the use of so-called “electronic paper” E-ink. A display using this technology with 16 shades of gray and reflects light and consumes power only for image formation page turning .

Most e-book models are operated with buttons, but, nevertheless, today you can find representatives of a “new class” of devices – readers with touch screen. An example is the PocketBook Touch reader with E Ink Pearl screen, which combines all new and modern technologies. The capacitive touch panel is implemented as a plastic layer with an anti-reflective coating for comfortable reading. Many experts say that the strong side of the e-book is precisely the possibility of touch control. “Now the screen is a functionally rich element of the device. For example, with one touch you can activate the built-in Wi-Fi module and download new books, newspapers or magazines. It is just as easy to increase or decrease the text with just your fingers, as it is done on smartphones. By the way, the reader is very popular not only because of the touch screen, but also because of its small size 115x175x10 mm and light weight about 200 g – a device that easily fits in your pocket, “- shares his opinion on the novelty of Dmitry Shestun, sales consultant at the online store electronics “Top computer.

iChef: a new class of cooking

iChef

Nowadays it is often possible to find home appliances, equipped with touch screens, but, as a rule, these screens are used only for selecting several functions. In 2011, Gorenje introduced a unique electronic software module for the iChef oven. This innovative, patented technology is the most powerful computerized system ever used in stoves.

Initially, the touchpad displays the date and time but as soon as the user touches the display, the main menu appears and gives access to six preset cooking modes. iChef technology includes already preset optimal settings for 65 dishes, all you need to do is to choose the necessary category: meat, vegetables, baked goods etc.d., flip through the pictures of dishes and, stopping at the desired one, press the “Start” button. The program will ask about the approximate volume, the required level of readiness and the time by which lunch or dinner should be prepared.

If you select the new patented STEPbake function you can define all the cooking parameters in advance. For example, to start poultry cooking at a low temperature and program a switch to grilling after a while. The innovative STEPbake system allows you to easily set up to 3 combinations of your choice: heating source oven, grill, convection , temperature and duration. All current settings would be displayed on the touch screen.

WonderBake is also packed with extra features like defrosting, keeping food warm and even reheating plates before serving. “The only disadvantage of such a plate – the inability to control with wet hands, every second touch is either not fixed at all, or is registered incorrectly. Whereas with conventional knobs, such complications simply can’t happen. But on the other hand, a significant advantage of the touch screen display is that the menus are intuitive and the operation of the hob is just as easy as that of a conventional gas stove. This is very convenient for the elderly people who find it hard to master all the new technology,” says Petr Klevtsov, the owner of an electric touch screen stove.

Samsung Smart Window: a new level of leisure

Samsung Smart Window

Surprisingly, the first touchscreen TV appeared more than 25 years ago, in 1982. We can say that it “grew out” of the Elograph, a graphic tablet developed in the early 1970s by Samuel Hirst, the founder of Elographics now EloTouchSystems . By 1977, the elograph was improved – made transparent with a five-wire screen. Elographics later teamed up with Siemens, and together they managed to make a convex touch panel that fit the kinescopes of the time. As a result, the first touchscreen TV was introduced at the 1982 World’s Fair.

At that time, few would have thought what technological marvels the twenty-first century would offer people. At the 2012 CES-2012 exhibition, Samsung presented a literal “TV of the future” – Transparent Samsung Smart Window, which can be installed in interior partitions or even window openings instead of ordinary glass. Remarkably, the people on the other side of the screen can’t see what’s going on inside.

The 22-inch Samsung Smart Window panel operates at a resolution of 1680 x 1050 pixels and has a contrast ratio of 500:1. At the moments when TV broadcasts are off, the Smart Window can display photos, videos, or different thematic screens: for example, simulating blinds that open and close by “pulling” the electronic rope displayed on the screen. In addition, the display shows widgets with the weather forecast, clock, calendar, recipe pad, address book and social media messages, all of which can be turned on, adjusted and moved around with the movement of your hand. Simple and easy applications in the new implementation of Samsung Smart Video can not but delight, for example, you can watch your favorite recipe for cooking chicken, and immediately after that switch to a movie or TV series. As part of the standard features, day and night backlight modes are already implemented to maintain excellent picture quality in all conditions.

Technology Transparent Samsung Smart Video has won an award for innovation at the International Consumer Electronics Show CES, which was held in Las Vegas.

Electronic devices have become more and more like living beings in their interactions with users: they understand touch, gestures and sometimes even voice. Perhaps in a few years there will be a new class of appliances that can guess the mood of the owner and adjust their work to him.

² To learn more about the concept of “Smart Home” and the control elements i-bus KNX can be found at //elec/articles/dom-s-intellektom-sovremennye-elementy-upravleniya/#comments