Swedish start-up FlatFrog has an in-glass touchscreen that uses scattered light to provide multi-touch.
"The capacitive technology used in most competing screens reacts to electronic fields in the screen, hence it responds only to fingertips," said FlatFrog. "Planar scatter detection [PSD] reacts also to thick gloves, plastic, rubber, whatever you want to use."
It works on big screens.
"People have begun to expect touch screens," said FlatFrog president and CEO Jonas Hedre. "If you visit a trade fair you can see how all screens are smudgy from all fingers trying to operate them directly on the surface. There is an enormous craving; it's a red-hot market."
Claimed performance is: 40 simultaneous touch and drag points, detected without delay, or blurring or jitter of the image; with coordinates as dense as 400dpi, resulting in movement detected down to 63µm.
"The processing power available today, compared to when other multi-touch technologies evolved, is far greater. PSD was designed using this fact," said FlatFrog CTO Ola Wassvik. "When you add the element of implementing the technology inside the glass, you also get a very robust and interference-free solution."
The firm will be selling complete screens.
"We are a hardware company", said CEO Hedre. "We develop the technology and supply the screens. Then we co-operate with a host of other companies that develop the software applications. The screens can be mounted in tables or walls, be placed upright or hung like a TV. Our technology can also be adapted for consumer products like laptops or smartphones."
Its first product, launched at the ISE Trade Show in Amsterdam, is a big one: the high-definition 32in LED-backlit Multitouch 3200, which is 55mm thick.
What can it be used for?
"Imagine a restaurant table which is a touch screen where each seated guest can order from the digital menu and play a game or read the paper while waiting for the food," said the firm. "Or a wall in a fitting room where you can see yourself in a variety of garments and colours. Or a gaming table where the participants play electronic poker with each other."
The multitouch planar scatter detection vidoes are well worth a look.
