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CHAPTER-1

HISTORY

1.1 Background & Origination

Touchscreens emerged from corporate research labs in the second half of the
1940s. One of the first places where they gained some visibility was in the
terminal of a computer-assisted learning terminal that came out in 1975 as part
of the Plato project. They have subsequently become familiar in kiosk systems,
such as in retail and tourist settings, on point of sale systems, on ATMs and on
PDAs where a stylus is sometimes used to manipulate the GUI and to enter
data. The popularity of smart phones, portable game consoles and many types
of information appliances is driving the demand for, and the acceptance of,
touchscreens.

The HP-150 from 1983 was probably the world's earliest commercial
touchscreen computer. It did not actually have a touchscreen in the strict sense,
but a 9" Sony CRT surrounded by infrared transmitters and receivers which
detect the position of any non-transparent object on the screen.

Until the early 1950s, 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 commercialisation of multi-touch
technology. 1

Touchscreens are popular in heavy industry and in other situations, such as


museum displays or room automation, where keyboard and mouse systems do

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not allow a satisfactory, 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. With time,
however, 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.

Figure1.1 Surface Wave Touch

CHAPTER-2
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INTRODUCTION TO SURFACE WAVE TOUCHSCREEN

2.1 What it is?

The Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology is one of the most advanced
touch screen types. The technology is based on two transducers (transmitting
and receiving) placed for the both of X and Y axis on the touch panel. The other
important element of SAW is placed on the glass, called reflector. The controller
sends electrical signal to the transmitting transducer, and transducer converts the
signal into ultrasonic waves and emits to reflectors that are lined up along the
edge of the panel. After reflectors refract waves to the receiving transducers, the
receiving transducer converts the waves into an electrical signal and sends back
to the controller. When a finger touches the screen, the waves are absorbed,
causing a touch event to be detected at that point.

Figure2.1 Touchscreen Panel

Compared to Resistive and Capacitive technologies, SAW technology provides


superior image clarity, resolution, and higher light transmission. Because the
panel is all glass, there are no layers that can be worn, giving this technology the
highest durability factor and also the highest clarity. Disadvantages of Surface

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Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology include the facts that the touch screen must
be touched by finger, gloved hand, or soft-tip stylus (something hard like a pen
won't work) and that the touchscreen is not completely sealable, can be affected
by large amounts of dirt, dust, and / or water in the environment.

The Surface Acoustic Wave technology is recommended for ATMs, Amusement


Parks, Banking and Financial Applications, public information kiosks, computer
based training, or other high traffic indoor environments.

The Surface Wave touchscreen has two main attributes. First, it enables one to
interact with what is displayed directly on the the hand, where it is displayed,
rather than indirect with a mouse or touchpad. Secondly, it lets one do so
without requiring any intermediate device, again, such as a stylus that needs to
be held in the hand. Such displays can be attached to computers or, as terminals,
to networks. They also play a prominent role in the design of digital appliances
such as the personal digital assistant (PDA), satellite navigation devices, mobile
phones, and video games.

2.2 Types of Technologies

Mainly, there are three kinds of technologies in Touchscreen Technology:

I. Resistive Touchscreen

II. Surface Wave Touchscreen

III. Capacitive Touchscreen

Resistive Touchscreen

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Offering excellent durability and resolution, resistive technology is used in a
variety of applications and environments. The Analog Resistive touch screen is a
sensor consisting of two opposing layers, each coated with a transparent
resistive material called indium tin oxide (ITO). The ITO used has a typical
sheet resistivity between 100 and 500 ohms per square. The layers are separated
by a pattern of very small transparent insulating dots. Silver ink bus bars make
an electrical connection to the surface of the ITO at the outside edges, spanning
the desired axis of the given layer. Silver ink traces connect the bus bars to an
electromechanical connector used for interfacing to the sensor. The cover sheet
has a hard, durable coating on the outer side, and a conductive coating on the
inner side. When touched, the conductive coating makes electrical contact with
the coating on the glass, and a touch is registered by the analog controller.

Resistive touchscreens deliver cost-effective, consistent and durable


performance in environments where equipment must stand up to contaminants
and liquids, such as in restaurants, factories, and hospitals. Disadvantages of
Resistive technology include only 75% optical transparency and the fact that a
sharp object can damage the resistive layers.

Surface Acoustic Wave Touchscreen

The Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology is one of the most advanced
touch screen types. The technology is based on two transducers (transmitting
and receiving) placed for the both of X and Y axis on the touch panel. The other
important element of SAW is placed on the glass, called reflector. The controller
sends electrical signal to the transmitting transducer, and transducer converts the
signal into ultrasonic waves and emits to reflectors that are lined up along the

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edge of the panel. After reflectors refract waves to the receiving transducers, the
receiving transducer converts the waves into an electrical signal and sends back
to the controller. When a finger touches the screen, the waves are absorbed,
causing a touch event to be detected at that point.

Figure 2.2.Surface Wave Touch

Compared to Resistive and Capacitive technologies, SAW technology provides


superior image clarity, resolution, and higher light transmission. Because the
panel is all glass, there are no layers that can be worn, giving this technology
the highest durability factor and also the highest clarity. Disadvantages of
Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology include the facts that the touch
screen must be touched by finger, gloved hand, or soft-tip stylus (something
hard like a pen won't work) and that the touchscreen is not completely
sealable, can be affected by large amounts of dirt, dust, and / or water in the
environment.
The Surface Acoustic Wave technology is recommended for ATMs,
amusement Parks, Banking and Financial Applications, public information
kiosks, computer based training, or other high traffic indoor environments.
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Capacitive Touchscreen

The touchpad contains a two-layer grid of electrodes that are connected to a


sophisticated full-custom mixed signal integrated circuit (IC) mounted on the
reverse side of the pad. The upper layer contains vertical electrode strips while
the lower layer is composed of horizontal electrode strips. The IC measures
"Mutual capacitance" from each of the horizontal electrodes to each of the
vertical electrodes. A human finger near the intersection of two electrodes
modifies the mutual capacitance between them, since a finger has very
different dielectric properties than air. When a user touches the screen, some of
the charge is transferred to the user, and makes the potential difference on the
screen. After the panel controller recognizes that, the controller will send the
X-Y axis information to the PC port.

The advantage is that capacitive technology transmits almost 90% percent of


the light from the screen. The superior efficiency gives capacitive better than
resistive technology.

2.3 Touch Screen Functional Description

Touching the top surface compresses the flexible top layer to the supported
bottom layer causing electrical contact of the two layers between the span of
insulating dots. Determining a touch location requires two measurements, one
to obtain an X-axis coordinate and one to obtain a Y-axis coordinate. A single
axis measurement is taken by applying a drive voltage across the ITO of one
layer via the silver ink bus bar and trace connections. The voltage applied to

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this layer produces a voltage gradient across the ITO. The voltage linearly
changes from the minimum drive voltage at one end to the maximum drive
voltage at the other end. The opposing layer, via a path through its ITO and
silver ink connections, is used to measure the voltage at the point of contact on
the voltage driven layer. This process is repeated, alternating functions of the
two layers to obtain a measurement on the other axis.
Measurements are made using a 10-bit analog to digital converter (ADC). A
10-bit ADC can resolve 2-to-the-10th power or 1024 different input values in
each the horizontal and vertical direction. The four-wire system resolution is,
however, less than 1024 due to losses in the drive voltage that occur before it
reaches the touch screen ITO.
Touch point coordinates are reported to the host computer or microcontroller
through a serial communications port.

Figure.2.3. Touch functional Desription

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CHAPTER-3

CONTRUCTION
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
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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.

There are three major components in Surface Wave Touch:

1.Touch Sensor

A touch screen sensor is a clear glass panel with a touch responsive surface
which is placed over a display screen so that the responsive area of the panel
covers the viewable area of the display screen.

The sensor generally has an electrical current or signal going through it and
touching the screen causes a voltage or signal change. This voltage change is
used to determine the location of the touch to the screen

Figure 3.1 Touch Sensor

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2.Controller

The controller is a small PC card that connects between the touch sensor and
the PC. It takes information from the touch sensor and translates it into
information that PC can understand.

Figure 3.2 Touch Conroller

3.Software Driver

The driver is a software that allows the touch screen and computer to work
together. It tells the operating system how to interpret the touch event
information that is sent from the controller.

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Most touch screen drivers today are a mouse-emulation type driver. This makes
touching the screen the same as clicking your mouse at the same location on the
screen.

Figure.3.3 Touch Software Driver

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CHAPTER -4

DEVELOPMENT

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 unassailable. 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.

CHAPTER-5

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ERGONOMICS & USAGE

Ergonomics is defined as the study of people’s efficiency in their working


environment, here the working environment we are discussing is the usage of
Surface Wave Touchscreen.

5.1 Finger Stress

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. However, the introduction of such items can sometimes be
problematic depending on the desired use case (for example, public kiosks such
as ATMs). 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.

5.2 Fingernail as Stylus

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. Rather than pressing with the soft skin of an outstretched fingertip, the
finger is curled over, so that the top of the forward edge 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, as fingernails lack the electrical properties required to

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be sensible by capacitive sensing.

The fingernail's hard, curved surface contacts the touchscreen at a single 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.

Figure. 5.1 Fingernail as Stylus

5.3 Fingerprints
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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 3G S, 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].

As an "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, despite
contrary evidence. Vertical touchscreens still dominate in applications such as
ATMs and data kiosks in which the usage is too brief to be an ergonomic
problem.

CHAPTER-6

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COMPARISON AMONG TOUCHSCREENS

CHAPTER-7
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APPLICATIONS OF SURFACE WAVE TOUCH

Transportation

From train stations to airports, touchscreen interface devices are used in almost
all forms of mass transportation.

Its applications can decrease training time, increase productivity, create higher
quality products and service, thereby raising profits.

Gaming

From Casinos and entertainment centres to counter top and bar environments.
Touch screen interface devices have been used to provide an easy and fun way
to interact. Easy to integrate touch software has expanded the potential for
creating exciting new games.

POS

For point of sales, resellers, distributers and end customers. The easy to use
touch screen enables Pos distributers to provide products that help customers
reduce employee training time and speed up transition.

Kiosk & Public Access Applications

From Trade show booths to retail outlets &from public environments to web
phones , touchscreen with built-in kiosk system provides interactive multimedia
solutions. They enable kiosks to be used in environments where a keyboard or
mouse is not practical.

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Few Applications…………….

Figures. 7.1 Applications

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ADVANTAGES OF SURFACE WAVE TOUCH

 Direct pointing to the objects.

 Fast.

 Finger or pen is usable (No cable required)..

 No keyboard necessary.

 Suited to: novices, application for information retrieval etc.

DISADVANTAGES OF SURFACE WAVE TOUCH

 Low precision by using finger.

 User has to sit or stand closer to the screen.

 The screen may be covered more by using hand.

 No direct activation to the selected function.

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CONCLUSION

Though the touch screen technology contains some limitations it’s


very user friendly, fast, accurate, easy for the novices & fun to
operate. It has been widely accepted. And now by just modifying a
little it can replace the mouse and key board completely in near
future.

Surface Acoustic Wave technology is one of the most advanced


touch screen types. It is based on sending acoustic waves across a
clear glass panel with a series of transducers and reflectors. When a
finger touches the screen, the waves are absorbed, causing a touch
event to be detected at that point.

Because the panel is all glass there are no layers that can be worn,
giving this technology the highest durability factor and also the
highest clarity. This technology is recommended for public
information kiosks, computer based training, or other high traffic
indoor environments.

REFERENCES
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• www.elotouchsyatems.com

• www.touchscreens.com

• www.wikipedia.com

• www.sawtouch.com

• www.google.com

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