CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
22 July 2008
Product News
Immersion Launches Kit for Designing Touch Feedback Into Small Touchscreen Products
Immersion Corporation (http://www.immersion.com/corporate/) announced the immediate availability of the TouchSense® Design Kit for Small Touchscreens. The new kit, with preloaded touch feedback “effects” and easy-to-integrate hardware, enables product designers to prototype touch feedback in products with touchscreens of up to 6 inches (diagonal).
Globally, use of touchscreens is growing dramatically because they provide intuitive operation, software flexibility, and space and cost savings. In the Touch Screens 2008 report, senior analyst of iSuppli Corporation, Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, forecasts that market size for small touchscreens (under 9.9 inches) will grow 25% annually from 2007 to 2013, exceeding 780 million units by 2013. (1) With the TouchSense Design Kit, designers now have a solution that can capture the benefits of touchscreens without loss of user productivity or satisfaction. The problem is that with the change from mechanical keyboards to virtual keypads, the loss of touch feedback creates higher input error rates and user dissatisfaction. However, research proves touch feedback in touchscreens solves these problems. It reduces error rates and makes user experiences more satisfying and productive and products easier to use. (2)
“Delivering user experiences that differentiate and sell products is an imperative for innovative product designers around the world,” said Chuck Joseph, senior vice president and general manager of Immersion’s Touch Interface Products group. “Our TouchSense design kits make it easy for manufacturers to capture the value of touch feedback for new products and product refreshes. Using this new kit, customers have proven that most product prototypes can be completed within just a few days.”
Tens of millions of consumer devices, including mobile phones and personal navigation devices, are using Immersion’s touch feedback technology to restore the familiar experience of operating mechanical controls, like pressing a button. Further, the technology can scale to enliven a variety of applications, including simple one-touch confirmations to more complex interactions, such as scrolling, zooming, and locating buttons by feel. Touch feedback is changing the consumer electronic device user experience and setting expectations for all touchscreen products.
The new TouchSense kit includes circuit boards, firmware, a touch feedback effects library, electromechanical components, and documentation to speed the design process. These components can be used to prototype touch feedback in many types of products, such as personal media players, personal navigation devices, desktop phones, multifunction printers, and handheld data collection devices. A TouchSense design kit for larger touchscreens (up to 36 inches) used in machine controls, ATMs, kiosks, healthcare, and many other types of equipment is already available.
With over 15 years experience in creating and delivering touch feedback, Immersion also provides design and best-practice consulting services for its customers around the world.
(1) iSuppli Corporation. 2008. Touch Screens. http://www.isuppli.com/rptviewer/default.asp?a=41865&cmd=inline
(2) Immersion Corporation. 2007. The Value of Haptics: A summary of recent independent published findings on the value of haptic feedback in human-computer interaction. http://www.immersion.com/valueofhaptics.php
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