[WEB4LIB] touch screens for info. kiosk

[Andrew I. Mutch]

Steve,

I had to research the touchscreen technology when we were looking into
purchasing them for our 911 dispatchers. In terms of the constant use that
they get, I think the info. would probably apply to your kiosk setup too.
Attached is some general info. on touchscreen technology. 

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI

------------------------------------

Touchscreen technology comes in 4 different flavors.  The 4 types are:

Resistive
Capacitive
Surface Acoustic Wave 
Infrared


Resistive
Resistive touch technology is generally the most affordable of the 4
options. The resistive panel includes 2 charged layers separated by a thin
layer of air.  When the exterior layer is depressed, it touches the
interior layer, creating a charge which registers the touch.  It is
durable and can be activated with any kind of touch including finger and
stylus.  However, it suffers from a diminished clarity compared to the
other options and the touch screen can be damaged by sharp objects.

Capacitive
Capacitive touch technology uses a single glass panel coated with a
charge-storing material.  When the surface is touched, the change in
charge is measured by circuits located in the corners of the screen,
registering the charge.  This technology is very durable and has high
clarity. However, it only work with a finger.  Non-conducive objects like
a glove or stylus will not work.


Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW)
Although more expensive than Capacitive and Resistive touch technology,
Surface Acoustic Wave is also more advanced than those options.  It uses a
series of sound waves to register a touch on the glass panel.  Because the
panel is made of glass only, it provides high durability and clarity.  It
can be activated by finger or a soft-stylus.  A hard stylus does not work
with this technology.  Also, the panel is not designed for uses where
there are a lot of environmental factors like dirt and water.

Infrared
Infrared acts much like SAW but is instead of using sound waves, it uses
infrared light to register a touch.  Like SAW, it provides a high level of
durability and clarity but can be sensitive to environmental conditions.


A comparison of these options can be seen here:

http://www.iicon.com/touchtutorial.html

and here

http://www.touchscreens.com/compare.shtml


Implementation
You can purchase touchscreen technology either as a package with a monitor
or as an add-on to an existing monitor.  The interface for the touchscreen
typically uses either a serial port or a USB port.  Most of the
touchscreen product claim to work with existing mouse drivers so
compatibility should not be an issue.

Recommendation
For the Police Department, depending on cost, we should try to use either
the capacitive or Surface Acoustic Wave technology.  SAW would provide a
greater level of flexibility but we would have to be aware of the
potential environmental conditions that would exist.  We will need to
explore the software used on the computers that have the touchscreen
technology to ensure that there are no incompatibilities.
 




On Tue, 29 Oct 2002, Oberg, Steve wrote:

> Everyone,
> 
> I'd appreciate advice on where to look when considering the purchase of a touch-sensitive screen, preferably a flat panel monitor.  Also, any advice on software or configuration would be great to hear about, too.
> 
> We are considering the possibility of providing an information kiosk next to or on our reference desk that would provide basic information to users such as interactive floor maps, library hours, a rolling "what's new"/announcements portion, etc.   In addition, we are thinking that this setup might have another purpose, and that is, to serve as a stand-up, networked workstation for our librarians to use when providing guidance to users.  (This would be in addition to a regular desktop PC that we already have at the reference desk.)
> 
> I've searched the archives and found several requests for similar information, but no answers that I can see.  Your help would be appreciated.
> 
> Steve
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Steve Oberg -- Electronic Resources Librarian
> Taylor University -- Zondervan Library
> http://www.tayloru.edu/library/
> 
>