New Touchpad Works Even When Being Bent and Stretched
Everyday technology revolves around the touchpad. Smartphones, tablets, and even computers are being made with touch screens for an easier and more efficient way to access information, communicate, etc. A new transparent touchpad has been invented can sense the touch of a finger even while it's being stretched and bent, and this technology could one day help engineers to make more efficient and advanced touch screens as help them to apply it to, for example, the human body.
This product, unlike many other touch screens, can tell the difference from a finger touch and the material itself stretching. It is made with a hydrogel, which is similar to the makeup of soft contact lenses. The hydrogel is heavily loaded with water, and the addition of salt creates an electric field around the screen. When a finger comes near it, it reacts with the electric field in a way that is distinguishable from the material's own movement.
The screen, coated with the hydrogel mixture, is just as effective as most touch screens with the benefit of not being effected by the stretching of the material. It can hold up against everyday messes, such as drink spills, and can detect multiple fingers at the same time, which is an important aspect of a touchpad. The touchpad is also very cheap to make. The materials needed to make it cost $1 per 10.75 square feet.
There are many more possibilities for this new technology than just to put in smartphones. Engineers could use it, for example, to put under carpets and be able to detect an elderly person falling. It could also be made as a wearable, transparent skin for prosthetic limbs or for other related uses to a phone. This simple technology for a touchpad can become a lot more for cheap.
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