Touch-Sensitive Displays: A New Technology Surfaces

摘要

Until now, the interactive display arena has incorporated a number of different technologies categorized as either passive or active touch. The main distinction between the two, of course, is that active touch requires the touch surface to be activated by a special pointer, whereas passive touch does not. As AI readers know, passive touch displays utilize four separate technology types: analog-resistive, surface acoustive wave, capacitive and infrared LED. With analog-resistive technology, two layers of conductive material are separated by pockets of air or spacers; once touched, the two layers make contact and complete a circuit, communicating the position to a computer. Surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology utilizes transducers to vibrate the edge of a thick pane of glass to produce acoustic waves; touching the surface breaks the waves, sending a signal to the computer.