multi-touch technology and digital signage€¦ · multi-touch technology and digital signage...

220 Tradesmen Drive, Hutto, TX 78634 | www.touchsystems.com | (512) 846-2424

Multi-Touch Technologyand Digital Signage

December 2013

What’s Driving Demand?

http://www.touchsystems.com


TouchSystemswww.touchsystems.com | (512) 846-2424

Multi-Touch Technology and Digital Signage

1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 3

2. Multi-touch is intuitive ................................................................................... 4

3. Multi-touch is expected ................................................................................. 5

4. Multi-touch builds on technological advances .................................................. 6

5. Multi-touch is experiential ............................................................................. 8

6. Multi-touch products at TouchSystems ......................................................... 10





Multi-touch isn’t a new technology – it’s been around for several decades – but it’s only been in recent years that it’s become feasible to integrate it into devices. Doing so has introduced products and operating systems like the iPhone, Windows 8, and e-readers. It’s also led to developments with larger screens; many large-format displays now have multi-touch capabilities, usually through projected capacitive, optical, or infra red touch technologies.

What is driving the demand for large multi-touch screens? It can be attributed to four, primary causes:

1. Multi-touch is more intuitive and natural than the point-and-click of a mouse or tap, tap, tapping on a single-touch device.

2. The current generation has become accustomed to multi-touch devices; the next generation expects them.

3. Developments with other technologies, ranging from infra red to HDMI and from CCFL to LCD and LED panels, incite continued experimentation, resulting in even more responsive technologies and improved hardware.

4. Interactive screens, whether single-or multi-touch, put information and experiences in the hands of viewers.






Multi-touch is intuitive.

Multi-touch is about swipes, gestures, and pinch to zoom. Such movements come natu-rally because people use them every day to interact with smartphones, tablets, e-readers, movie kiosks, ATMs, and self-checkouts.

Multi-touch also is intuitive because it’s an interactive and responsive feature. Today is a time in which devices now answer to instructions given to them via voice, touch, or motion. It’s no longer the days of pointing and clicking or of typing instructions and waiting for devices to respond. The devices – all other considerations being equal in terms of bandwidth and connectivity – react immediately to external stimuli.

“Design has to work. Art does not.”

– Donald Judd






Multi-touch is expected.

Today’s children and young adults have grown up with iPhones, Android devices, tablets, e-readers, and trackpads on laptops. They expect electronic devices to respond to their touch, and they expect those devices to respond immediately. They will not endure long lag times or intermittent responsiveness.

One place already recognizes what the next generation wants and where the future is headed: schools. Many schools have transitioned from chalkboards to whiteboards and from whiteboards to smartboards. They are now transitioning from smartboards, which often utilize existing whiteboards and occasionally a projector, to multi-touch screens because those screens are more interactive, can feature different software applications, and offer students and educators the ability to dive deeper into specific subjects. Some industrial environments are following suit; they, like many schools, are aiming to keep the current generation content while providing the tools the next one expects.

Another related point is the “BYOD” (Bring Your Own Device) phenomenon. People in the workplace look at upwards of three screens every day and expect to be able to access information on every single one of those screens at the drop of a finger or fingers. The trend is spawning developments within the digital signage and A/V industries so that devices can better communicate with each other – for instance, swiping information from a smartphone or tablet to a screen mounted on a wall

or in a conference table – as well as with other people’s phones, tablets, laptops, and other devices both within the same room and on the other side of the globe.

Why multi-touch?

• For collaboration

• For multiple people using the same screen at the same time

• For upselling

• For learning

• For engagement

• For marketing

• For sharing – people shop “multi-screen” - that is, they use their smartphones or tablets while in the store or even when on their home computers - and they share their experiences with their networks






Multi-touch builds on technological advances.

Technology always seeks what’s next. It’s why the point-and-click method of the mouse and computer is becoming one of yesteryear, and it may be one that seems alien to next and subsequent generations. It’s also why technology trends found in one setting tend to filter into others; large touch screens, for instance, borrow some of their capabilities from their smaller counterparts, smartphones, e-readers, and tablets.

Small format touch technologies have progressed from only resistive and surface capacitive to resistive, surface capacitive, and projected capacitive. While all the technologies are still in use, they now tend to be used in certain settings or for specific applications. Touch technologies in large-format displays have seen a similar progression. DST (Dispersive Signal Technology), once the end-all, be-all technology when it came to large touch screens, has been joined by infra red and optical, both of which offer multi-touch capabilities. As with the small-format technologies, the large ones are all available and usually are recommended depending on the environment and intended use.

Not only do touch technologies im-prove, but technologies related to the A/V industry also do. VGA and DVI-D are becoming obsolete technologies. In the next few years, they’ll be replaced by DisplayPort, HDMI, MHL, HDBaseT, and Miracast. All those technologies feature better






ways for the software and hardware to communicate with each other, and they offer the ability for people to interact with the software and hardware via their personal devices. As those technologies become the defaults for the A/V industry, touch screen manufacturers, software developers, and end users will continue to experiment, producing both a demand for better ways of doing things and of finding ways to do those things.

“Content has to be the first priority when it comes to any sort of digital signage installation, and it has to be tied into the return on investment and return on objectives. Without solid content, the installation will fail. Content has to engage but not distract. It has to push people to make a decision rather than entrance them into stasis.”

- TouchSystems






Multi-touch is experiential.

Today is the day of the consumer, and that consumer wants information. Consumers don’t have to go very far to get it; they use a computer or smartphone and access information about a product, service, or event. They decide what to view, when to

view it, and what to do once they have viewed it.

These are consumers who are very much in charge of the entire experience. As such, it doesn’t do to clobber them with marketing messages or information. Consumers have to be invited to it. Marketers and business owners are creating those invitations in a number of ways, but one of the primary ones is through touch screens; most consumers, after all, are connected to a touch screen most of the time, and they often are willing to interact with a screen that provides useful and beautiful or entertaining content.

Touch screens also allow consumers to share their experiences with their social networks. They might share them via a large-format touch screen, or they might share them through one of their personal devices. In both instances, consumers remain in charge of their

experiences and how they interact with the content displayed.

For businesses or organizations that use touch screens, the takeaway is simple:





use touch screens to layer information – even if it’s information about how to traverse a shopping mall or medical center – and experiences and to invite consumers to participate. Businesses must create content that is so attractive and relevant that consumers have to touch the screen. They have to give consumers the ability to control not only what information they access but also what they do with and how they share that information while always driving sales or other business goals. Relevant and beautiful or entertaining content is important to creating a memorable brand and experiences, but it has to do more than that. It has to tie into the bottom line. If it doesn’t, it’s like throwing money in the air and hoping it multiplies as it falls to earth.




Multi-touch products at TouchSystems.

IS1534P-U IW3234P-UIW2235P-U

V4680I-U3

X4080I-U1

X5580I-U2

V4280I-U3




About TouchSystems

TouchSystems, established in 1996, remains a pioneer in the touch industry. TouchSystems works with customers to create innovative touch solutions, such as desktop touch monitors, interactive (single- and multi-touch) digital signage, all-in-one systems, and kiosks. TouchSystems is based in Hutto, Texas and is a certified woman- and minority-owned small business.


multi-touch technology and digital signage€¦ · multi-touch technology and digital signage...

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