1.  Touch Screen Technology By: Jake Mayfield

2. History of Touch Screen Technology

3. History Continued  Siemens Corporation produced the first curved glass touch sensor interface in 1977.  Soon after Hewlett-Packard introduced a home computer with touch screen technology.  In the 1990’s smart phones and handhelds with touch screen technology were being introduced.  Popularity of touch screen really became known in the 2000’s. Apple came out with the most popular smart phone, the iphone which is nothing but touch screen technology.

4. What Is Touch Screen Technology?  Touch screen technology is a visual and computer aided device where the computer screen acts as an interface to the computer environment by simple touches to the screen.  When a finger touches the surface, the two metallic layers become connected. The pressure that your finger has created causes conductive and resistive layers to touch, which registers as a touch screen event and is sent to the computer controller for processing.

5. First Component of Touch Screen Technology  The touch sensor is a panel with a touch responsive surface. Different systems are built based upon different types of sensors.  There are three different sensors. There is resistive, surface acoustic wave, and capacitive. Sensors have electrical currents and when you touch the screen the voltage changes. The voltage change signals where the touching is located.

6. Second component of Touch Screen Technology  The second component is the controller.  The controller is the hardware the converts the voltage changes on the sensor into signals.  The computer or other device receives these signals.

7. Third Component of Touch Screen Technology  The third component is the software.  The software tells the computer or phone, or gaming device what is happening on the sensor and info coming from the controller.  It reacts to who is touching where, and allows device to act upon touches to the screen.

8. Advantages of having touch screen technology  Touch screens help save time. Purchasing tickets, or paying bills can be made quickly by having a touch screen.  It also helps improve accessibility. It clearly organizes info and is simple.  Touch screens can also help you save money. Instead of having to pay a sales person at a grocery store, you can have touch screen technology to handle the sales for you.  Touch screens can be easily cleaned, which makes them very sanitary.  Touch screens are small and are beneficial so that you can carry them without needing a keyboard.

9. Disadvantages of Touch Screens  If you are you a touch screen device, then you have to be close to the screen in order to touch it. If you have a big desk then this can be frustrating.  Also you must be accurate when using a touch screen device. Some things are hard to touch and you may touch the wrong icon very easily.

10. Cool Facts About Touch Screens  The world’s largest touch screen is 10 meters long.  A Nokia research Centre team in Finland created a 2 meter by 1.5 meter ice wall to show how surfaces are gaining computer capabilities.  There is an app called Swype which teaches you to write letters in a whole new way. You can connect letters using your finger and the text creates words out of squiggly lines. The world record was 26 words in 25.94 seconds.

11. Works Cited  http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/T ouch-Screen.htm http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/T ouch-Screen.htm  http://www.ehow.com/list_5997493_advantages- disadvantages-touch-screens.html http://www.ehow.com/list_5997493_advantages- disadvantages-touch-screens.html  http://www.ehow.com/list_6966081_advantages- touch-screen-technology.html http://www.ehow.com/list_6966081_advantages- touch-screen-technology.html