THE RECENT ADVANCEMENT AND APPLICATIONS IN TOUCH SCREEN TECHNOLOGY BY Teniola esan This

INTRODUCTION:

A touch screen is an electronic visual display that the user can control through simple or multi-touch gestures by touching the screen with a special stylus/pen and-or one or more fingers. Some touchscreens use an ordinary or specially coated gloves to work while others use a special stylus/pen only. The user can use the touchscreen to react to what is displayed and to control how it is displayed (for example by zooming the text size).

Touch screens have been available since the days of cathode-ray tubes, but the technology didn’t really catch on with consumers until mobile phone makers adopted it to solve the tiny-button problem. Now touch screen smart phones and tablets collectively constitute the fastest-growing electronics market segment.

“Touch screens have been around for a long time, but they were only popular in business and industrial settings, such as food service, airport kiosks and industrial keypads,” said Rhoda Alexander, director of monitor research at IHS iSuppli. “The real transition for consumers … was when Apple moved into smart phones and then tablets. Before then, consumer touch screens didn’t work very well, because they had to operate a standard OS. But with the move to smart phones and tablets, operating systems like iOS have enabled a very touch-friendly user interface.”

Capacitive touch screen technology has revolutionized smart phones and tablets, and is now finding its way into laptops, desktop displays, and all In one PCs. Because the market for these devices is fiercely competitive, vendors are constantly challenged to design systems with high display quality, ease of navigation, high performance, compact form factors, long battery life, and low cost. Because the touch screen plays such an influential role in the user experience, the choice of its design can be a determining factor in a product’s ultimate success.

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

HISTORY OF TOUCH SCREEN TECHNOLOGY Historians consider the first touch screen to be a capacitive touch screen invented by E.A. Johnson at the Royal Radar Establishment, Malvern, UK, around 1965 - 1967. The inventor published a full description of touch screen technology for air traffic control in an article published in 1968.

In 1971, a "touch sensor" was developed by Doctor Sam Hurst (founder of Elographics) while he was an instructor at the University of Kentucky. This sensor called the "Elograph" was patented by The University of Kentucky Research Foundation. The "Elograph" was not transparent like modern touch screens, however, it was a significant milestone in touch screen technology. The Elograph was selected by Industrial Research as one of the 100 Most Significant New Technical Products of the Year 1973. In 1974, the first true touch screen incorporating a transparent surface came on the scene developed by Sam Hurst and Elographics. In 1977, Elographics developed and patented a resistive touch screen technology, the most popular touch screen technology in use today. In 1977, Siemens Corporation financed an effort by Elographics to produce the first curved glass touch sensor interface, which became the first device to have the name "touch screen" attached to it. On February 24, 1994, the company officially changed its name from Elographics to Elo TouchSystems.

1980’s In 1983, the computer manufacturing company, Hewlett-Packard introduced the HP-150, a home computer with touch screen technology. The HP-150 had a built in grid of infrared beams across the front of the monitor which detected finger movements. However, the infrared sensors would collect dust and require frequent cleanings.

The nineties introduced smart phones and handhelds with touch screen technology. In 1993, Apple released the Newton PDA, equipped with handwriting recognition; and IBM released the first smart phone called Simon, which featured a calendar, note pad, and fax function, and a touch screen interface that allowed users to dial phone numbers. In 1996, Palm entered the PDA market and advanced touch screen technology with its Pilot series. In 2002, Microsoft introduced the Windows XP Tablet edition and started its entry into touch technology. However, you could say that the increase in the popularity of touch screen smart phones defined the 2000s. In 2007, Apple introduced the king of smart phones, the iPhone , with nothing but touch screen technology.