Case Study Touch Interfaces
Robust Non-Mechanical Buttons
Top-down projection on a custom touch table.
Button be Gone
It’s no surprise that contactless technology has become so popular. Museum and exhibit designers can easily speak of the frustration that conventional mechanical buttons place upon the maintenance of a design. They offer all sorts of issues in regards to hygene, durability and reliability. Not to mention the fact that finding the perfect button for a design can be a real hassle. Capacitive touch technology offers designers a solution to these problems, and open up a whole range of possibilities for aesthetics and interaction.
Capacitive touch technology senses the body’s field.
Multi-Touch before ‘Multi-Touch’
The last couple years have seen a rise in ‘Multi-Touch’ technology. Made most famous by the ingenuous iPhone, the latest group of ‘Multi-Touch’ interfaces use a combination of IR reflection, cameras, complex blob tracking software and large screens or projections. While these projects offer lots of great advantages such as high touch resolution and the ability to use dragging gestures, they also incorporate other issues—namely integration size and high cost.
But when a design calls for flexibility of location, tight integration scenarios and needs to be robust and cost-effective we promote the use of capacitive touch technology in lieu of other multi-touch techniques. And here is why:
Location, Size, and Blobs
Unlike a ‘multi-touch’ screen, capacitive sensors are applied only in hotspots—areas of the interactive surface that require the ability to sense touch. Since the technology doesn’t need to be embedded in the screen, it can be placed anywhere—inside or outside of the screen area. This allows for more flexibility in the design. And since it doesn’t require a screen, it can conform to any shape or size. For example, several of our touch-sensitive tables are oval in shape.
Installing discrete touch-sensitive keys into the table.
Using discrete capacitive touch sensors offers up another design benefit: unlimited blobs. Most ‘multi-touch’ screens have trouble detecting more than 3-5 blobs. This normally isn’t a problem, since you don’t really need more than that. In some cases, like an education museum with hundreds of little hands, five blobs aren’t going to cut it. Discrete sensors act as individual switches, so there is no limit to the amount of blobs it can detect. Intelligent software can sort out which blobs to ignore if needed, but there is no limit to shape, location or number.
Screen? What Screen?
A lot of times you think ‘multi-touch’ and you instantly think about screens. But what if your content doesn’t change? Do you really need a screen? Our most popular use of touch technology is for this reason. Sensors can be hidden behind graphic panels and use LEDs or lamps to illuminate where a user should touch. This technique can provide designers with wide-ranges of interactive possibilities while keeping the design within budget. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice interactive content just because a screen doesn’t fit the size or cost of a project.
This large graphic panel uses touch buttons with back-illuminated green LEDs.
“Touch me to find out more”
One of the most popular uses for touch technology is in creating novel controllers for interactivity. This is particularly useful in museum or exhibit design where artifacts themselves can become the buttons that launch audio or video content. We can work with model makers or object manufacturers to embed sensors in virtually any material making it sensitive to touch. This technique is very powerful in driving the association of object to content, and when used well can save lots of space in tightly-packed exhibits.
Workers installing touch-sensitive artifacts (fiberglass models) for the grave interactive.
What we’ve done
Aesthetec has worked on a wide variety of touch interfaces for interactive exhibits. This ranges from projection and LCD surfaces, to LED backlit applications and custom-made novel interfaces such as museum artefacts. If you have an idea that uses touch technology, or are interested in our ideas, please get in touch.