Company: Zytronic Displays Limited
Category: Display Product of the Year
In response to increased concern regarding contact with public touchscreens, Zytronic has developed a new variant of it’s durable, all weather touch sensing product, named Zybrid(R) Hover.
Zybrid Hover is based upon the patented, award winning projected capacitive touch technology that Zytronic has pioneered since 2000, and developed and manufactured in the North East of England. This latest innovation, draws on the company’s expertise in not only customising the touchscreen user interface, but also it’s ownership of the touch control electronics and firmware. Combining novel adaptations in both, Zytronic has created a touch sensor, tough enough to be used in unattended, outdoor environments, whilst reacting instantly to the lightest touch or gesture.
Conventional touchscreens will only respond to a direct touch, whereas the Zytronic Hover touch detects interaction over 30mm above the surface of the sensor – even if the user is wearing thick fabric, leather or latex gloves. The advantage of this touch sensing method, unlike other technologies, means that the screens are unaffected by rain, leaves, dirt and other objects touching or lying on the surface – and will only respond to a finger (including gloved) or conductive stylus.
To achieve this level of performance, Zytronic modified the design of microscopic pattern of (10 micron diameter) copper electrodes embedded on the rear of the impact resistant glass touch sensors. Together with specially developed Hover firmware embedded within Zytronic’s proprietary ZXY500 multitouch controller (driven by the company’s own ASIC), enables the capacitive touch detection field to be projected up to 30mm above the surface of the sensor. Zytronic can produce the new Zybrid Hover touchscreens in a limitless range of shapes and sizes from 5″ to around 55″(diagonal display size), and with many options in terms of glass types e.g. Anti-Glare, Anti-Reflective and Anti-Microbial.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic impacting all aspects of our everyday lives, the advantages of a touchscreen that can respond without the need to touch the surface (and that can be operated with gloved hands) is obvious. All types of self-service kiosks and publicly deployed touch interactive systems can benefit from such a development – for example, point-of-sale terminals (POS), ticket machines, automated teller machines (ATM), fuel dispensers and information displays. Furthermore, with human-machine interfaces (HMI’s) and touchscreen control panels increasingly being installed in medical facilities and factories where cleanliness is paramount; e.g. hospitals, doctors surgeries and food processing plants; the hygienic benefits of Zytronic’s Hover technology are clear.
A link to a YouTube video showing the product and technology in action can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02tpglohIQ8