New Transparent Touch Screen Could Threaten iPhone

Posted on October 11, 2007

Today's touch technology - like that available in the iPhone - isn't perfect but gadget manufacturers are always working on improvements. A camera pointed at the back of the LucidTouch allows you to see your fingers through the gadget's screen. This could help solve problems that touch devices have such as when your fingers obscure the view - a problem called the "occlusion problem." NewScientistTech writes that devices like LucidTouch could challenge the iPhone.

A touch-sensitive gadget with the sensing panel on its back, instead of the screen, is being developed by US researchers. Using your fingers behind the device allows a firmer grip and more accurate performance without obscuring your view of the screen, they say.
Multi-touch interface technology hit the commercial market this year, with the US release of Apple's iPhone in June. But the iPhone's touchscreen is not perfect, says Daniel Wigdor of Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs (MERL) and the University of Toronto, Canada.
"As soon as you put your hands on the display you [obstruct] the screen," he says, something he calls the "occlusion problem". Users of iPhones have other problems too, he adds. "Multi-touch devices detect the entirety of the touch area,� Wigdor continues. "That's what we call the 'fat finger' problem."

Here's a video from NewScientist that shows how the LucidTouch works.

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