Capacitive touch
Touch-sensitive user interfaces have seen an enormous emergence in the last decade, no doubt influenced by the popularity of tablets and smartphones that use the same principle. A mere touch or swipe of the finger on the control panel is translated into an action, offering an intuitive user experience and making the technology fit for a wide range of applications in every sector and domain. The translucent panels offer a nearly limitless number of possibilities for backlighting, design and branding.
How it works
Capacitive sensing technology is based upon the constant monitoring of the electrical capacity of the touch area, which is changed by a human finger. As the human body is an electrical conductor, touching the surface of the screen results in a distortion of the screen’s electrostatic field. Depending on the location of the touch and the movement that is detected (swiping, tapping), a specific action will be triggered.
Intuitive user interaction
The popularity of capacitive touch screens for a wide range of applications, from home appliances to industrial machines, is still on the rise. The reason for their popularity is obvious. Not only do they offer a very intuitive and pleasant user experience, they are also very familiar to users of mobile phones, tables, tv-sets and laptops. There is also an important aesthetic aspect. The translucent panels offer a nearly limitless number of possibilities for backlighting, design and branding. Black panel effects have made the user interfaces – often a thorn in the eye of designers – almost invisible when they are not being used.