Touchscreen technology has been around for around 55 years, and here is how the touchless variant works.
The first touchscreen technology was invented in 1965 by E.A. Johnson, and since its inception, this technology has evolved to no longer requiring the user to touch it at all. The rate that technology evolves is astounding, and if you have ever wondered how it works, below is a summary to explain the workings of touchless displays and their place in our society.
Interacting Without Touching
Many of us have a smartphone which utilises touchscreen technology and allows us to navigate around our devices seamlessly. We are also seeing touchless technology being integrated into many more devices, whereas before it was mainly seen in research labs around the world. The new technology allows users to interact with a technological device using gestures or voice commands, which means that the user no longer must touch the device to use it.
How It Works
Touchless technology will usually use one or more sensors to capture the motion and interpret this as an action to be taken by the device. These sensors are placed around the edge of the display or screen. These can then control the touchless interactive display, and the motion is captured and interpreted as a physical interaction of the unit, without it being touched.
Areas Of Research For This Technology
There are many applications for this technology, and it is being embraced in many different industries, including medicine. Some of the areas that are using this technology extensively are as follows:
- Interacting with medical images
- Touchless interaction during surgeries
- Touchless games for learning
- Teaching of anatomy in medicine
- Design technology
Other areas are embracing this type of technology in many different industries, and we are finding many new uses for it all the time.
Some Benefits Of The Technology
2020 has been a year which has seen the world become highly conscious of cleanliness and the transmission of disease with COVID-19. Touchless technology can have a significant role to play in our new world, and it can be used in public displays that people do not have to touch, limiting the transmission of germs and bacteria that may cause illness. We have had contactless payment systems for some time, but you still need to insert your card and type in your PIN if the transaction is over a specific value. Using this technology will mean that you can type your PIN, but without touching the screen, helping to keep more people safe from the transmission of disease and illness. Other areas are embracing this type of technology in many different industries, and we are finding many new uses for it all the time.
The Technology Of The Future
Whether you are looking to use this technology in your marketing display, to interact with your customers, or any other way, touchless screen technology is here to stay, and we will see a lot more of it in 2021. Looking to the future, there are many more applications for this type of technology which can be applied in many different industries.
Whether it is health, communication, or even play, we are seeing touchless technology becoming an increasing part of our lives. When coupled with augmented reality, it opens a world of possibilities.