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Membrane That Turns Any Surface Into a Touchscreen

Posted by timothy on from the wasn't-picking-my-nose dept.

alx5000 writes "Engadget has a story about Displax Interactive Systems, a Portuguese company that has created a new polymer film that, when stuck onto a surface, converts it into a multitouch touchscreen with up to 16 contact points. The article states that 'if all goes well, the first Displax-enabled wares will start shipping this July.'"

5 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Usefulness of touchscreens is overrated. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The usefulness of touchscreens is truly overrated.

    I used to work at a pizza chain where we had to ring in orders using a touchscreen. They were the biggest pieces of shit ever. It'd take five or six taps to perform any action.

    Just last week I was at the airport, and ran into the same problem using a much more modern ticket printer station that used a touchscreen.

    I can't help but be very skeptical about this technology, given how poorly existing touchscreens work. And those existing touchscreens are just basic rectangles, in very predictable and controlled environments.

    1. Re:Usefulness of touchscreens is overrated. by Canazza · · Score: 4, Insightful

      one that can be taken off and replaced constantly without replacing the entire machine (or atleast a significant part, IE the whole display unit) would lower maintainence costs. This will likely be welcomed with open arms :)

      --
      It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
    2. Re:Usefulness of touchscreens is overrated. by mikael_j · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It probably doesn't help that any touchscreen placed somewhere where the general public has access to it will be subjected to vandalism and stupidity in the form of people pouring liquids on it, banging on it and (in the case of stupidity) trying to jab it really really hard without checking if it's possible to, you know, just touch it lightly.

      As for the parent's comment about cash registers I'm willing to bet quite a few coworkers took out their frustrations with customers, the cash registers themselves and management on the cash registers (when I worked in tech support I had a co-worker who went through several mice per month since he would vent his anger by hitting his mouse with a closed fist, doesn't take long for a mouse to fall apart under those conditions).

      /Mikael

      --
      Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
  2. And the drivers are available for???? by wowbagger · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've been trying to find touchscreens to incorporate into an embedded system, and few of the touchscreen vendors have drivers for anything other than Windows - as such they get eliminated from my consideration.

    I've just check Displax's site, and a search for "linux" gives no hits - so either:
    a) They are just doing the actual sensing system, and letting somebody else build the actual interface chips
    or
    b) They only support Windows.

    Which makes them a non-starter in my line of work.

    --
    www.eFax.com are spammers
  3. Re:Multi-touch, but... by Emb3rz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Reasons you would place a touch-sensitive device onto a static surface:

    • Identification of features (educational purposes)
    • Plotting (the vector kind, not the muhahaha kind)
    • Security interface?

    And there are plenty of other things you could use it for.. this is just a starter list. :)