when touchscreen technology first hit the mass market the general opinion was
that it was a fad that would pass much like any other with many people clinging
tightly to the analog buttons on their phones and claiming that things like
texting could never be the same without them but
fast forward to today and it's practically impossible to find any of
those previous skeptics who don't currently have their faces buried in a
new touchscreen device tapping and swiping away but how did it all get
started well the first touchscreens were developed all the way back in the 1960s
using a capacitive design which works by
coating glass with an electrically conductive surface now as we all
remember from the first matrix film human beings are basically just
batteries waiting around to be harvested by the machine so whenever one of our
conductive little digits comes in contact with this type of screen the
processor can sense the difference in charge as an input and although this
technology was developed decades ago the same basic idea is used in even the
highest end smartphones today cool right
but just like anything else these wonderful devices don't function well
under certain adverse conditions condensation from cold damp weather can
get to your screen and get it wet causing it to register random presses
and surface materials such as dirt or even the oil from your fingers can also
impede a capacitive touchscreen's functionality i mean not to mention that
they can't normally be used with a gloved hand so in cases where speed and sensitivity
are not as important as reliability and functionality resistive screens can be a
better option you'll often see these on kiosks cash registers atms and other
places where durability really counts so
these operate by having two thin sheets set apart by a small gap one of which
has a current applied to it while the other is connected to voltage sensors
whenever the screen is touched it causes the current and sensor layers to make
contact registering an input because the outer surface of the screen
doesn't contain any sensitive electronics resistive touch screens
stand up very well to environmental hazards and careless users and can be
used with styluses gloves and really any
blunt objects though you won't see them very often in phones or tablets due to
their bulk and lack of precision now as great as current touchscreen
technology is i mean are we ever going to see it do more than just allow us to
pick stuff on a display what if touch screens could touch you back well
researchers are now trying to answer that very question with a number of
different approaches for instance the prototype fusa 2 display from japan is
made of optical fibers making it feel furry and aside from making your dog
jealous because you couldn't stop petting your new phone it could have
applications in interior design marketing i mean imagine a football
field made of these fibers that could change the appearance or or detect
exactly where the receiver's feet were when he fell out of bounds cool stuff
right but it's not for everyone and if you don't want your screen to feel like
a puppy there are a number of cool things in the works that can provide all
sorts of tactile feedback a project called ultra haptics out of england is
launching a system that enables both touch inputs and feedback in mid-air
using ultrasonic pulses and disney research is working on a similar system
that uses precisely directed blown air
for virtual reality experiences gaming and more and speaking of disney research
they're also developing the tesla touch system which uses minute changes in
voltage on the touchscreen itself to actually make the screen mimic different
gestures i mean imagine a picture of sandpaper feeling rough when you run
your finger across it or a large file feeling heavier than a small one when
you drag it to a different folder i mean who knows maybe one day you'll be able
to feel Techquickie videos though i'm
not sure if anyone's gonna like that idea very much
but you know what's a good idea squarespace head over to squarespace.com
if you need to build a website they've got a wide variety of different
templates all of which will allow you to end up with a simple powerful beautiful
functional website they've got 24 7 support via live chat and email and it
starts at only eight dollars a month with a free domain thrown in if you buy
squarespace for the year all of their templates feature responsive design so
your website will scale to look great on any device and every website comes with
a free online store you can start your
trial today with no credit card required and start building your website now when
you decide to sign up use offer code Linus to get 10 off your first purchase
thanks for watching this episode as fast as possible guys if you liked it then
touch me here if you didn't like it then you can touch me
lower i guess oh that's weird uh don't forget to subscribe for more videos like
this over here on techwiki and hey don't miss our other channels as well we've
got all kinds of great videos over on Channel Super Fun and over on Linus tech
tips so check out the little i in the corner to see a couple featured videos
right now