You
see it in almost every piece of commercial hardware nowadays. From
handhelds to 20-inch display monitors, touch screen technology is as
integrated in daily life as the Internet. While it may seem like a
modern innovation, the touch screen isn’t exactly a new technology;
it was invented in 1965 by a British scientist named E.A. Johnson.
His
work was somewhat crude and can only process one touch at a time, but
Johnson’s capacitive touch screen, which is coated with an indium
tin oxide (ITO) capacitor, would form the basis of today’s touch
display devices. This technology was further developed by Dr. G.
Samuel Hurst and his team from the University of Kentucky during the
70’s. Their resistive touch screens rely on sensors which detect
movement in plane coordinates. This layout would then be used by the
PLATO IV in 1971, the first-ever touch screen computer.
Today,
it’s not just computers that use touch screen technology—it can
also be found in TVs, cellphones, and other devices. While ITO
capacitors are still used by current generation touch screens, some
scientists are looking at incorporating more advanced nanowires to
build smaller and “trendier” touch screens. Bendy screens, for
instance, may seem like a gimmick for most people, but they may
actually become a necessity to make future generation touch screens
smaller and more compact.
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