What is Touch Control?

Touch control is the mechanism that allows a computer to sense and respond to human touches, including buttons, scroll bars, swipe gestures, and mouse clicks.touch control Touch control is built from a mix of hardware and software, including the touch panel technology, the touch controller, the operating system, the GUI framework, and the end-user applications. Each of these layers has its own features and configurations, and each one relies on the other to deliver a smooth touch experience for the user.

The basic technology behind a touch screen is a conductive layer of glass or hard plastic blanketed by a resistive metal layer that can hold an electric charge.touch control When you place your finger on the screen, the conducting layer absorbs some of the electric current from the screen, changing the voltage at that location, which in turn signals the computer to respond. This simple process happens in nanoseconds and is what makes the touch screen on your smart phone, tablet computer, digital camera or self-serve kiosk at the bowling alley work.

Most touch panels use resistive or capacitive technologies. Resistive systems have two metallic layers that become connected when touched, which changes the electrical current and registers a touch screen event on the controller. Both types of touch sensors work with either fingers or a stylus. Capacitive systems have a layer of flexible material that changes the amount of electrostatic charge in the area where contact is made.

Once a touch panel is triggered, the sensor reports an event stream to the processor or microcontroller via a standard hardware bus like I3C, I2C or SPI. The device microcontroller then uses the events to determine the type of touch gesture and update the UI. The operating system, GUI framework and end-user applications also come into play in creating a seamless touch experience, so it’s important to choose a suitable microcontroller for your project.

Depending on the application and user-interface (UI) design, the microcontroller can also take in feedback from other devices, such as switches, sensors and actuators. These inputs can then be used to provide dynamic controls and interaction with the UI.

The UI and functionality can be customized using a variety of touch gestures, such as touch down, move, touch up, drag and slide. In addition, a wide range of graphical effects can be added to the display, such as blur and gradients.

With KURZ, it’s easy to add touch functionality to doors, furniture and other panels with a wide variety of real and virtual textures. From deceptively real-looking marble, wood and carbon to bright, glossy or brushed metals — even indium-based metallization — the possibilities are endless.