Touch Screens Everywhere
In a world that is filling with touch sensitive mobile phones and MP3 players, public awareness of and interaction with touch screen technologies has started to increase dramatically. A natural consequence of this increased exposure is of course greater familiarity, which helps to reduce the inhibitions of some users, and this factor coupled with the current relatively low cost of large format screen technologies, will ensure that touch screens continue to play important roles in our lives. But
Of all the senses, touch is the most intimate, which is why humans are drawn to touching things in order to help make judgements about them. So it is important when designing touch screens systems, which are by definition tactile experiences, to ensure that they always leave users feeling positive and rewarded about their experience.
It is therefore essential that systems are responsive and that screen interfaces are intuitive and require no previous knowledge. Buttons should be large and have a clear meaning, enabling users to access the information they are after quickly and without the risk of confusion and frustration.
Furthermore the modern multi-touch screens, in addition to the traditional "point and shoot" systems, now enable more advanced features such as two fingered zooming so that users have a richer and more engaging experience. However, it is important that such additional features should only ever augment simpler methods of interaction and should never replace them.
It is also important that touch screen systems are reliable, resilient and not prone to crashing or system slowing - which sadly you still often see. Interdirect's touch screens are thoroughly tested and hardened to ensure consistent performance throughout their lifetime. Additionally, each is programmed to store locally any content updates so that even if communications with the controlling server are broken each screen will continue to function (albeit with the possibility of slightly outdated content).
Interdirect's touch screen systems enable content to be updated remotely via the same content management system that support all of its other web-based systems thereby putting content owners in direct control of updating their own content and allowing content to repurposed between an intranet, a website and the touch screen.
Interdirect touch screen systems are further enhanced by being linked to additional screen "real estate" in the shape of 42" LCD digital posters. These bring greater emphasis to what is being done on the touch screen by showing related adverts or videos.
Published - Monday, 08 December, 2008