Improving the touch screen

[Corkydog]

So, touch screens are pretty cool. They are also getting more and more common, but there are still a few inherent flaws in them.

One of the issues with touch screens in general is the fact that touching the screen puts a big fat hand in the way of the screen, blocking parts of it. Now, this may in fact be impossible, but I wonder what would happen if the screen was semi transparent, and you touched things from behind. Like the Vita, your fingers would be on the back and you would be able to see them through the screen, enabling you to press what you want without obscuring it. Again, not sure if technology is there yet.

Another issue is tactility, or whatever you call lack of buttons. A screen is a smooth surface (for good reason) so it can be difficult to tell when you have pressed something or not. There was that phone a while ago that had a screen that clicked when you pressed down, turning the whole screen into a button, and I remember seeing stick on buttons for iPhone games a while ago that would mimic fingers and allow for more feedback when playing.

Similar to the previous, sometimes touch screens think you are clicking something when you just want to drag it or scroll down, which is annoying, but I think an inescapable tenet of the technology. And my touchpad on my laptop, despite running the software that claims it can tell if its my fingers or my palm, still manages to move the mouse around when I am typing and rest my hands.

Thoughts on these ideas or on touch screens in general? This seems to be the main fad in technology right now, what feature do you think will be next (i.e. holograms, 3D, biotics).

Thanks for reading, for some reason I get nervous when I try to start a thread.

 

[loc978]

I absolutely detest touch screens, ever since I had to use a Blue Force Tracker [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Force_Tracking], and all the way up to the latest Android and iPhones, the damn things just don't work for me. I touch it, it figures I double-tapped a few centimeters in a random direction. I'm used to working with absolutely precise, high-DPI mice... so no touch screen cuts it, not even close. Also, yeah, physical buttons make complex controls easy. Anything other than click on a touchscreen is horribly unintuitive.
...I'm holding out for interactive holograms. Of course, we have to perfect and cheaply manufacture regular ol' holo-emitters first. Until then, I'm staying a decade behind on this matter.

 

[Revolutionary]

The way to improve the touchscreen is not to use it as the sole source of input for a device, and to supplement it with some sort of hardware buttons at least. This is a particular concern for text entry; not having tactility when it comes to that can be a major disadvantage.

Yeah, pretty much this, I would add that the additional hardware should include a stylus.

 

[Malo_Tux]

I don't care for touch screens because I am still upset that in this modern day and age, they cannot some up with a cell phone that the display is still visible in the sun

 

[Phishfood]

I don't care for touch screens because I am still upset that in this modern day and age, they cannot some up with a cell phone that the display is still visible in the sun

I imagine e-ink phones will happen soon enough.

 

[Snork Maiden]

The way to improve the touchscreen is not to use it as the sole source of input for a device, and to supplement it with some sort of hardware buttons at least. This is a particular concern for text entry; not having tactility when it comes to that can be a major disadvantage.

While this is true, I think moving away from a built in keyboard is good on phones that use the screen as the primary input (so iPhones, Android, WP7) - I'm fairly happy to have somewhat clumsy typing if it means my potential screen real estate isn't taken up by a keyboard. I guess a sliding keyboard would be a fair compromise, but again I'd sooner lose the extra bulk.

As an aside I find typing on the iPad to be just fine, although that could just be because there's less of a concern about having the sound on an iPad cranked up so you can actually hear the click from the speakers when you hit a key.

 

[ultrachicken]

My problem with touchscreens is that you can't tell when you hit a button. Other than that, I love them. Yes, I suppose there are ways to make it possible to see when you hit a button, but a device that requires me to watch the buttons I'm pressing instead of monitoring what those buttons are actually doing is inherently flawed. Nothing beats being able to feel the buttons.

 

[Sinketi]

There's nothing to stop touch screens employing haptic feedback (I.e. a small vibration under the finger when something is pressed) aside from the cost. Many smartphones have it on their menu buttons, but there would be a huge cost associated with having feedback to make it "feel" like you're pressing buttons over the entirety of, say, an iPad screen. However, it won't be long until a true feedback touch screen comes around, then the experience of using one will change dramatically, I figure.

 

[Gustavo S. Buschle]

I think that touch screens should be solely used for a mouse system in small devices, and never as a substitute for buttons.

 

[Arehexes]

I have an example on how touch screens is bad.

There is a RPG called Zenonia, it's your basic RPG made by Gamevile. Now I own it for both Android and Nintendo DSi, the Android version uses all touch and it blocks my view since it's a zelda ish rpg. The DSi one (minus the extra screen used as a map) was better because the buttons where not blocking my view. I'm not gonna lie it's just a pain using that system and if the touch pad isn't done right it can cause problems.

 

[Ulixes Dimon]

I don't care for touch screens because I am still upset that in this modern day and age, they cannot some up with a cell phone that the display is still visible in the sun

I imagine e-ink phones will happen soon enough.

Unfortunately I don't think color ink screens are possible (magnetism can't differentiate between the different inks so there isn't a way to arrange colors in patterns) but my phone auto adjusts its brightness according to light levels, it works great.

 

[Layz92]

some sought of slightly textured screen that prevents it from getting all clouded and smudged with finger prints. Also some way of cutting down on refelctive glare would be good.

 

[Phishfood]

-snip and misquote-

I imagine e-ink phones will happen soon enough.

Unfortunately I don't think color ink screens are possible (magnetism can't differentiate between the different inks so there isn't a way to arrange colors in patterns) but my phone auto adjusts its brightness according to light levels, it works great.

This isn't even the link I was looking for, this one is way cooler, but colour e-ink is on the way.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/14/colour_e_books/ [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/14/colour_e_books/]

(The link I was looking for used coloured oils rather than mono balls....hehe...I said mono balls)

 

[holy_secret]

My problem with touchscreens is that you can't tell when you hit a button. Other than that, I love them. Yes, I suppose there are ways to make it possible to see when you hit a button, but a device that requires me to watch the buttons I'm pressing instead of monitoring what those buttons are actually doing is inherently flawed. Nothing beats being able to feel the buttons.

Well I know for a fact that Nokia's phones with touch screens rumble just a tiny bit whenever you press it in order to deliver a form of feedback, as if you were touching a real button.
Remember when I went from it to the iPhone, was horrible. Missed the rumble so much I thought I would never be able to adjust to the iPhone.

I did eventually :-D

 

[Griffolion]

I think capacitive touch screens do their job well. They allow multi-touch, software based gestures and are very responsive. I would only improve on it by reducing the power consumption, as they can be power hoggers compared to other techniques, like resistive.

The complete lack of tactile feedback on a touchscreen keyboard is an intrinsic problem that some people simply don't like. I've gotten used to it, and its alleviated somewhat by the phone making a very slight rumble every time a key is pressed. But there is nothing better than a proper, well laid out keyboard to type on.

As for E-Ink, I think it's good but ultimately a dead end. With the advances being made in regular screen technology like Samsung's latest SAMOLED screens like the one found in the SGSII, coupled with a high PPI resolution (275 or above), it will render invalid the main advantage of E-Ink which is the excellent contrast ratio.

I don't care for touch screens because I am still upset that in this modern day and age, they cannot some up with a cell phone that the display is still visible in the sun

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-i9100-Unlocked-Smartphone-Touchscreen/dp/B004QTBQ2C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308652546&sr=8-1