ABOUT TOUCHSCREENS… A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that the user can control through simple or multi-touch gestures by touching the screen with a special stylus/pen and-or one or more fingers. Some touchscreens use an ordinary or specially coated gloves to work while others use a special stylus/pen only. The user can use the touchscreen to react to what is displayed and to control how it is displayed (for example by zooming the text size). The touchscreen enables the user to interact directly with what is displayed, rather than using a mouse, touchpad, or any other intermediate device (other than a stylus, which is optional for most modern touchscreens). Touchscreens are common in devices such as game consoles, personal computers, tablet computers, and smartphones. They can also be attached to computers or, as terminals, to networks. They also play a prominent role in the design of digital appliances such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite navigation devices, mobile phones, and video games and some books (Electronic books). The touchscreen became widely popular on handhelds after Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF TOUCHSCREENS… Historians generally consider the first finger-driven touchscreen to have been invented by E.A. JOHNSON in 1965 at the Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern, United Kingdom. He originally described his work in an article titled “Touch display- a novel input/output device for computers“. His discovery could only process one touch at a time and was eventually adopted by air traffic controllers in the UK and remained in use until the late 1990s. Although capacitive touchscreens were designed first, they were gradually eclipsed by different inventions which include; a. The accidental development of resistive touchscreens in 1970 by American inventor Dr. G. Samuel Hurst b. The University of Illinois’s PLATO IV terminal which was the first touchscreen computer to be used in a classroom that allowed students to touch the screen to answer questions(1971).

THE FIRST TOUCHSCREEN BY E.A. JOHNSON

PLATO-IV TERMINAL- THE FIRST TOUCHSCREEN COMPUTER TO BE USED IN A CLASSROOM

After a while, Multi-touch technology began in 1982, when the University of Toronto's Input Research Group developed the first human-input multi- touch system. In 1983, HP-150 was created which was one of the world’s earliest commercial touchscreen computer. In 1986 the first graphical point of sale software was demonstrated on the 16-bit Atari 520ST color computer. It featured a color touchscreen widget- driven interface. The View Touch point of sale software was first shown by its developer, Gene Mosher, at Fall Comdex, 1986, in Las Vegas, Nevada to visitors at the Atari Computer demonstration area and was the first commercially available POS system with a widget-driven color graphic touch screen interface. In , the Sun Star7 prototype PDA implemented a touchscreen with inertial scrolling and in 1993, the IBM Simon which is the first touchscreen phone was released. After the release of Nintendo DS in 2004, touchscreen became popularly used for video games.

The HP-150 featured MS-DOS and a 9- inch touchscreen Sony CRT

IBM's Simon Personal Communicator: big handset, big screen, and a stylus for touch input

BENEFITS AND FUTURE OF TOUCHSCREEN TECHNOLOGY Initially, high-resolution options were too expensive to make a touchscreen home computer a feasible option. Costs have dropped drastically in recent years thanks to a number of technological advancements, making high-resolution, high-contrast touchscreen computers a practical reality. In fact, touchscreen displays are usually crisper and clearer than most standard film-covered computer screens because the glass front of a touchscreen monitor is much easier to clean and maintain. Of course, this also means the screen is easier to keep sanitary in family homes where parents and kids share a computer. Touchscreen computer are incredibly easy to use, thanks to their literal hands-on method of operation. User interfaces and navigation on touchscreen devices are more understood; rather than clicking and dragging with a mouse, you can simply click, flick, pinch, rotate, zoom or scroll by touching a multidirectional touchscreen. Instead of a list of photo files, you might look at the actual photos themselves spread across a screen, similar to the way you would sort through a pile of photos on a desk in front of you. Overall, navigating a touchscreen device is generally more efficient. Touchscreen monitors also increase the efficiency of your space because you don’t have a mouse and keyboard taking up prime desktop real estate. Of course, some touchscreen users may still prefer to use a physical keyboard in addition to the on-screen touch keyboard, but the need for a mouse is virtually eliminated by a touchscreen monitor. Already, there are a number of applications specifically tailored for touchscreen technology. Microsoft has a collection of applications called the Touch Pack for Windows 7. It includes games, maps, photo software and even an interactive screensaver. As touchscreen monitors become increasingly widespread, software and app developers will continue to increase the production of software optimized for touchscreens. Touchscreens are a practical and convenient option for computer use for many reasons. From efficiency and sanitation to ease of use and compatibility, touchscreen technology will only continue to become more popular in both the customer service industry and among personal users.

TIMELINE OF TOUCHSCREEN TECHNOLOGY

REFERENCES en.wikipedia.org/wiki/touchscreen review.toptenreviews.com/touchscreen- monitors-not-just-for-retail-anymore.htmlhttp://touchscreen-monitors- review.toptenreviews.com/touchscreen- monitors-not-just-for-retail-anymore.html touch-displays-to-the-surface-a-brief-history-of- touchscreen-technology/ by Florence Ion. Last modified on april 4 th, 2013, 2pm touch-displays-to-the-surface-a-brief-history-of- touchscreen-technology/