Bert Moore

A version of this article was originally published in the June 1995 issue of Automatic ID News. Company names and product offerings may have changed since this article was written but the technology issues remain the same.

Introduction

"Touch screen technology takes the familiarity of a handshake and makes it a high-tech data entry device," observes Robert Martin of ASC Systems, a Saint Claire Lakes, MI-based VAR and systems integrator. Martin believes that the strong increase in the use of touch screens in commercial, retail, and industrial applications is based as much on the gratification received from truly interacting with a control device as it is on touch technology's ease of use.

Martin may well be right. A user feels that he or she is controlling the program even though, deep down, the program is really leading the user through a menu of options. Touch technology has the ability to convey this "friendly" feeling because, from the time we're able to observe the world around us, we want to "touch" and "change" things. That's exactly what touch screen technology allows us to do.

Touch provides a graphic, dynamic, and extremely easy to use interface to complex programs...from machine setup to shop floor data collection to point-of-sale. And many people who are afraid of "using a computer" seem to be able to use a touch screen without hesitation.

General

Touch technology turns a CRT, flat panel display or flat surface into a dynamic data entry device that replaces both the keyboard and mouse. In addition to eliminating these separate data entry devices, touch offers an "intuitive" interface. In public kiosks, for example, users receive no more instruction than "touch your selection."

Specific areas of the screen are defined as "buttons" that the operator selects simply by touching them. One significant advantage to touch screen applications is that each screen can be customized to reflect only the valid options for each phase of an operation, greatly reducing the frustration of hunting for the right key or function.

Pen-based systems, such as the Palm Pilot^® and signature capture systems, also use touch technology but are not included in this article. The essential difference is that the pressure levels are set higher for pen-based systems than for touch.

Touch screens come in a wide range of options, from full color VGA and SVGA monitors designed for highly graphic Windows™or Macintosh^® applications to small monochrome displays designed for keypad replacement and enhancement.

Specific figures on the growth of touch screen technology are hard to come by, but a 1995 study last year by Venture Development Corporation predicted overall growth of 17%, with at least 10% in the industrial sector.

According to Jim Sido, IBM's National Marketing Manager for Food Service Products, this year should see even greater growth than last year.

John Muhlberger, Director of Product Management at PAR Microsystems estimated that, for POS applications, touch screen terminals outsell keyboard terminals about 4:1, even though the touch terminals cost somewhat more.

Other vendors agree that touch screen technology is becoming more popular because of its ease-of-use, proven reliability, expanded functionality, and decreasing cost.

Benefits

All of the vendors contacted agreed on the benefits of touch screen technology.

Ease Of Use:

Studies have shown that touch screen applications have very short learning curves for most users. Because touch screens are dynamic, the display can be designed to present only the valid choices for each phase of an operation. This reduces the amount of time spent trying to identify the correct key to press. Graphics are often added to provide visual prompts, examples, or warnings. And because entry is done on the display surface itself, it reduces eye movement and may reduce overall fatigue.

Flexibility:

Touch screen applications can offer windowing, dynamic screens, pop-up keyboards or keypads, and a full range of other input options. Additionally, text be displayed in a variety of languages, depending on the needs of the user (quite often the customer). Equally importantly, however, is that if changes to options are required, screens can be quickly updated, something that's not possible with static keyboard overlays (as in point-of-sale applications). Some machine tool manufacturers are even using touch screens to present on-line help for various procedures.

Durability:

Touch screen manufacturers use a number of technologies, each one suited to different types of applications. Choosing the right technology for a given application is unquestionably the key factor for durability. But whether it's grit and oil from machining operations, boy scouts with pocket knives, or tourists with burning cigarettes, touch screens are available for every environment.

Environmental Durability:

Touch screens are used in every working environment imaginable: from copper rolling mills to food processing freezers.

Many touch screen technologies lend themselves to being completely sealed against outside contaminants. In food service, for example, touch screens are much easier to keep clean than key caps or overlays. In industrial settings, the seals keep contaminants out of the terminal or controller and allow full wash-downs where required.

Aesthetics:

Applications where customers operate a data entry device obviously depend significantly on the "atmosphere" created by the human interface. Touch screens can be customized for each of these situations. In the industrial arena, however, aesthetics are beginning to play a greater role as well. Many machine tool manufacturers are including touch interfaces to not only improve the functionality of the interface but to present a more appealing face to users as well as buyers. And, as strange as it may sound, many employees who use touch terminals comment on how much more "fun" they are to use than old-style keyboards. Helping relieve some of the drudgery from an employee's routine may provide more job satisfaction.

Applications

Touch screen technology is equally at home in the gritty industrial world as it is in public kiosk applications. The following application examples are grouped under arbitrary headings...but don't let that limit your thinking. An application that's currently running in a retail environment may be right at home in a manufacturing environment...or in an application that's specific to your company.

Control Functions

Controls manufacturers are increasingly providing touch screens as an integrated part of their product lines. Small panels, such as the Allen Bradley PanelView and Omron Electronics NT20, are increasingly being used to replace keypads, push buttons, thumb wheels, and other electromechanical controls for machine tool and PLC setup. A single touch panel can replace a variety of controls while providing added functionality by permitting the display of procedures, warnings, or alarms.

Industrial Displays

Larger displays, typically hardened computer monitors such as those offered by Dynapro, MicroTouch, and Allen Bradley, can be used to control, not just monitor, production processes. Touching the screen can bring up details on a particular part of the process...including status, data, and even real-time graphs.

Many touch screen displays have sufficient built-in memory to store hundreds of screen layouts. Networked to a central controller, these monitors can handle display requirements internally, requiring only data and control I/O from the host.

These are typically used to replace "dumb" terminals on the shop floor in applications such as inspection, test benches, and shop floor data collection.

Industrial Terminals

The line between fully integrated PCs and industrial terminals is blurring considerably. Products such as Casco Development's touch screen terminals, IBM's Model 7527 data collection terminals, and UBI's MaxiLAN CS data collection terminal offer 386/486 power in ruggedized enclosure specifically designed for touch screen technology. The IBM terminal includes a (real) keyboard in addition to a touch panel and offers two ports for ADC input (with built-in bar code decoding). The UBI product includes built-in bar code decoding, hard disk or RAM disk, PC Card slots (which even allow RFDC), and network capabilities.

These terminals can run a variety of software, either off-the-shelf development tools for Windows and DOS, or packaged application software such as IBM manufacturing application software or Casco's manufacturing tracking and T&A modules.

Typical applications include packaging line control, manufacturing tracking, control and monitoring, and inspection and QC.

PORTABLE TERMINALS: Typically, portable terminals are pen-based. However, both CliniCom and PAR Microsystems are using touch for RFDC-linked portable applications.

CliniCom's system is designed to provide a direct interface between health care professionals and patient records residing on the main database. CliniCom, a software developer, produces the touch device to support its software packages that provide data entry and query modules for doctors and other health care professionals. Providing direct access to patient records eliminates much of the paperwork associated with patient record keeping and speeds data entry by providing specific menus of treatments and observations.

PAR Microsystems' unit combines a touch keyboard and a touch input/output section. Currently implemented for fast-food POS, it allows sales personnel to take orders in line or even outside in the drive-through lane.

MULTI-PURPOSE TERMINALS: General Digital, which sells through OEMs, manufacturers a transportable workstation, complete with Pentium processor and 1 gigabyte hard drive designed for a variety of uses. One application that has been developed for these devices is maritime navigation. Input from radar, LORAN, global positioning systems, and other navigation aids can be ported into the unit to provide current location on a touch screen displaying a chart of the area. Navigation can be accomplished by drawing the desired course on the touch screen. Onboard electronics factor in wind and current to determine the appropriate heading.

MicroTouch, the leading manufacturer of touch screens, offers a range of multi-purpose terminals, both PC- and Macintosh-based.

Multi-Purpose Monitors

Touch screen displays designed for general application are available for a n ever-increasing number of vendors. These monitors can be included in kiosks and POS displays, used in office environments, or included in industrial devices with appropriate gasketing and shock protection.

Every manufacturer noted in this article offers some form of general purpose display.

Dynapro and MicroTouch even offer retrofit kits for many different monitors which VARs use to expand their product lines.

MicroTouch has just introduced a unique combination touch/pen monitor. Previously, monitors were optimized for either pen- or touch-sensitivity.

Adding touch to a computer requires a bus board and software drivers in addition to the monitor. Installing touch can be done by anyone who can open a computer and insert a board.

Another option is Digital Equipment's force-sensing monitor base that uses touches on a standard monitor. This device translates the minute changes in force on the base of the monitor into a position on the screen. This approach has the advantage of being monitor independent.

POS

In the battle for consumer dollars, touch screen is taking the lead.

IBM, MicroTouch, PAR Microsystems, and others are focusing on fast food applications. According to John Muhlberger of PAR Microsystems, fast food is the "ultimate JIT" where the response time between receiving an order and delivering it is measured in minutes and seconds.

Currently, many POS touch screen applications are designed for employee use. Increasingly, however, applications designed for customer use, such as automated ticketing, catalog sales, and fast food ordering, are being developed. Multi-language applications have already been implemented for food service use.

IBM offers touch as an option on its 4693 and 4694 POS terminals. Its new 4695 POS terminal was awarded first place in the Commercial and Industrial Equipment Category of the 1995 Industrie Forum Design Competition, Hannover, Germany.

MicroTouch, through its Factura Division, offers complete kiosk systems for a variety of POS applications. And a new TouchBoard® product allows opaque surfaces or static displays, to be turned into touch-sensitive areas.

PAR Microsystems offers fixed POS terminals for food service applications.

Kiosks/Gaming

Public kiosks that, for example, provide directions, and promote hotels and restaurants, are cropping up all the time. An application in Yellowstone National Park offers visitors a pictorial history of the fires that ravaged the area a few years ago. Museums are also using touch screen technology to operate computer programs in both children's and adult displays.

MicroTouch also offers a unique through-glass projected sensing device that allows touch to be registered through as much as 2 inches of glass. This technology was used by Targa Systems to turn a display window at F.A.O. Schwartz's flagship toy store in New York City into a "browsing" area during the Christmas season. Passers-by could touch pictures on the window and view (and hear) additional information about the product.

Gaming machines are also increasingly turning to touch screen technology because of their durability. Players frequently leave burning cigarettes on the screens and spilled drinks are not uncommon.

Multimedia systems developers also see touch screen technology as a logical interface to many different public systems. Macintosh computers and Phillips CDi platforms are becoming increasingly popular by these developers. MicroTouch offers full Macintosh platforms as well as CDi monitors. Other manufacturers are sure to follow suit.

Conclusion

The possibilities for touch screen technology seem virtually endless. With increasing functionality, decreasing costs, and high user acceptance, touch screen technology should be on your "shopping list" for new applications.