| One of the most demanding challenges designers of | | | | predominantly based on resistive touchscreen |
| electronics – especially consumer electronics – | | | | technology, became quite popular across consumer |
| face involves user interface design. Interface design | | | | electronics, airport kiosks, grocery store POS terminals, |
| requires careful mapping of complex user actions to | | | | and automobile GPS systems. |
| create an intuitive, usable, and productive experience. | | | | Multi-Touch Gesture Touchscreens |
| Users, with all of their senses – sight, hearing, taste, | | | | Single-touch touchscreens based on resistive |
| smell, and touch – sit on one side of this paradigm. | | | | touchscreen technology, while amazing and |
| On the other side is the device or system that is | | | | revolutionary in their own right, had two significant |
| affected by the output of the user’s five senses. | | | | drawbacks: 1) resistive technology relied on the, albeit |
| The holy grail for both users and developers is a user | | | | small, physical movement of the touchscreen, |
| interface that most effectively and intuitively leverages | | | | something that proved to cause poor performance |
| the most relevant senses – sight and touch in this | | | | after normal wear and tear, and 2) it was just |
| case – into the most optimal user experience. | | | | single-touch, i.e. only one finger can do one thing at one |
| Unfortunately, a large majority of commercially | | | | time on a particular screen. |
| available devices predominantly treat these two critical | | | | This is where Apple made its monumental contribution |
| senses as inherently separate. On the surface, these | | | | to the user interface revolution, with its |
| interfaces are comprised of components that seem to | | | | projected-capacitive based touchscreen iPhone. Even |
| do the job well enough. These components range | | | | in small devices like smart phones, the functionality |
| from simple buttons or keys – like those on your | | | | inherent within the applications and operating system |
| computer keyboard, cell phone’s keypad, MP3 | | | | screams for multiple fingers for optimal usability. |
| player, household appliances, and even television | | | | Already users are wondering how they ever lived |
| remote controls – to more advanced tapping and | | | | without one and two fingers gestures, like manipulating |
| scrolling features as found in volume sliders, scroll | | | | picture sizes like shown below in Figure 2 and |
| wheels, and trackpads. However, the location of the | | | | orientation of web page views and the like. |
| output, or the result of a user’s input or user, is | | | | Other innovators are continuing this multi-touch gesture |
| fundamentally displaced from the location of the input. | | | | trend across many other devices systems – from |
| What would happen if those two senses – the | | | | other smart phones like the Google G-1 and the |
| output and the input – the sight and the touch - | | | | Blackberry Storm, computers and laptops like the |
| were one and the same? This is benefit that | | | | MacBook Pro and HP touchsmart, portable media |
| touchscreens bring to system at a very basic level. | | | | players, and a wide variety of other applications. New |
| What may seem like a basic concept is actually a | | | | expectations have been set in how users can connect |
| profound breakthrough that is leading to a revolution in | | | | with electronics and now all electronics are vying to |
| how users interact with the world of electronics. The | | | | integrate this expectation. |
| transparent nature of touchscreens enables a | | | | Multi-Touch All-Point Touchscreens |
| completely different user interaction with devices as | | | | As with Single-Touch touchscreens, Multi-Touch |
| the user directly “touches” the varied content | | | | Gesture touchscreens too have a limitation: the |
| within the display. Instead of having this button or that | | | | number of points the technology can identify on the |
| button on the periphery of any electronic device, like a | | | | screen. Why limit device makers to two points at a |
| computer mouse or keyboard or even just a regular | | | | time? Users have ten fingers across two hands and |
| dial pad button on a cell phone, users can instead | | | | when users interact with each other the number of |
| directly interact with any application that is inherent | | | | fingers and hands grow even more. That is the |
| within the device’s “brains”, its operating | | | | concept of Multi-Touch All-Point, the ability to handle |
| system. | | | | more just two fingers. |
| This direct interaction is revolutionary because the | | | | Multi-Touch All-Point technology brings touchscreens to |
| power of the operating system and its applications are | | | | the next level of reliable usability across a broader set |
| then directly at the user’s fingertips. For while | | | | of feature-rich applications. Reliability refers to the |
| computer mice and trackpads let users navigate | | | | ability to accurately capture all raw data points |
| through applications on a screen, the mouse and | | | | touched on a screen in the highest granularity in a way |
| screen are still separate and distinct. A touchscreen | | | | that minimizes any confusion on what exact points in |
| fundamentally brings the display alive by allowing users | | | | the screen were touched. Usability refers to the many |
| to physically the display and thereby become one with | | | | powerful applications, within small and large screens, |
| the screen, its inherent applications, and the data | | | | that can benefit from more than two fingers or hands |
| displayed. Actions and gestures of all kinds – | | | | on the screen. |
| anything a person can imagine with his or her own | | | | Interactive 3D gaming, keyboard entry, and map |
| eyes – can be realized on the display simply by | | | | manipulation are but a few more examples of |
| touching it. Touchscreens come in three main forms: | | | | applications that are prime candidates for this level of |
| Single-Touch, Multi-Touch Gesture, and the epitome of | | | | touchscreen functionality. Ultimately multi-touch all-point |
| it all, Multi-Touch All-Point. | | | | technology provides device and system |
| Single-Touch Touchscreen | | | | OEMs with even more touch data to empower them |
| The power of the touchscreen was first unleashed in | | | | to unleash their creativity for developing the next |
| its most simplistic form – with just one finger | | | | generation of user interfaces. |
| touching one point on the screen. Just think of your | | | | One example of Multi-Touch All-Point technology is the |
| everyday POS terminal at your local supermarket or | | | | TrueTouch™ touchscreen solution from Cypress |
| the check-in terminal at the airport. Singletouch was the | | | | Semiconductor. |
| obvious next step in the evolution of user interfaces, | | | | TrueTouch™ is powered by Cypress’s |
| bringing the mechanical button off to the side of the | | | | PSoC® programmable system-on-chip architecture, |
| screen back onto the screen. | | | | which integrates an 8-bit microcontroller with |
| Single-touch buttons are found in everything around the | | | | programmable analog and digital blocks. The |
| home, office, or anywhere in between: cell phones, | | | | architecture delivers unparalleled flexibility, and |
| landline phones, remote controls, televisions, computers | | | | configurability. The TrueTouch solution’s projected |
| and all of its peripherals, gaming systems, refrigerators, | | | | capaciticance touchscreen controllers are scalable in |
| ovens, toasters, car interior controls like radio and air | | | | terms of screen size support. It is flexible in supporting |
| conditioning, and so on. Single-touch touchscreens like | | | | single touch, Multi-Touch gesture, and Multi-Touch |
| the shown in Figure 1 remove the need for the | | | | All-Point technologies. TrueTouch provides a great deal |
| traditional mechanical button by integrating that user | | | | of integration of external components and can |
| control interface directly onto the screen itself. | | | | specifically work with any touchscreen sensor or |
| Single-touch has brought two main advantages to the | | | | LCDdisplay. The flexible PSoC architecture enables |
| user interface: 1) Device design space can be | | | | designers to accommodate last minute changes -- |
| optimized, especially in smaller devices, by locating both | | | | something no other touchscreen product can deliver. |
| a screen and buttons in the same area, and 2) devices | | | | TrueTouch’s whole product support can be |
| can now have an unlimited amount of “buttons” | | | | leveraged to get a quality and cost effective |
| since a button could be tied to any application within | | | | multitouch all-point touchscreen design into production |
| the device’s operating system. This functionality, | | | | quickly. |