Interactive Displays: Natural Human-Interface Technologies

Chapter 2Touch Sensing

Geoff Walker

Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, California

2.1 Introduction

This chapter is intended to provide a definitive reference on all touch technologies used in interactive displays. The objective of the chapter is to provide the reader with a substantial understanding of the operation, capabilities, advantages, disadvantages, limitations, and applications of 18 different types of touch technology. This understanding can be particularly helpful when touch is being combined with other input modalities in order to provide the user with more choices in how they can interact with a computer, as described in Chapters 1 and 9.

This chapter's scope is limited to touch technologies that operate by contact with a display screen, with the exception of stylus or finger “hover”, which generally takes place within 1 cm of the touch surface. Touch on opaque (non-display) surfaces, proximity sensing, and in-air (3D) gestures are therefore excluded from this discussion. This chapter also does not include any substantial information on touchscreen manufacturing.

In covering the wide array of touch technologies and system integration details, we focus more on the breadth of information on multiple technologies rather than the depth of technical information on any one technology. In this chapter (and throughout the touch industry) the terms “touchscreen” and “touch-panel” are synonymous; the former is more commonly used in the West, while latter is more commonly used ...