Directly measuring the force of a touch on a touch screen eliminates many of the limitations of traditional touch technologies. Force sensing touch devices heretofore have proven impractical. We explore the challenges of force-based touch sensing, how these are overcome and the capabilities thus offered to the design engineer.
One of the most intuitive means for a human being to interact with a computer, particularly with a computer display, is via touch. Reaching out and touching a “button” that is displayed on a computer screen, and having that touch sensed by some “touch screen” device, allows for a level of interaction between a computer and human that requires very little training. With well-written user-interface software, many types of human-machine transactions can take place with little or no training of the human. The best example of this is, of course, self-checkout kiosks that are commonly found at national chain stores.