SMK Electronics has put together a new capacitive touchscreen that’s designed to work not just with those wonderfully conductive fingers of yours, but also with gloved hands and perhaps more. SMK developed a new sensor panel structure that is noise-resistant, allowing for a clearer signal to be detected at high sensitivities.
This isn’t the first touchscreen we’ve seen that works with gloves. At this year’s Mobile world Congress, we saw an incredibly impressive demo by Synaptics showing off their new touchscreens, which can detect a gloved hand or even the head of a pin. They achieved it in a similar way: by reducing noise, though their approach was different. They integrated the touchscreen controller with the display controller running the screen beneath it, allowing them to work together and avoid interference.
Synaptics’ screens are aimed at mobile phone use, but SMK’s are specifically designed for dash panel systems in cars. With more and more functions being centralized there, access at any time is important, and many people wear gloves while they drive. Resistive screens avoid this problem but lose out on sensitivity in general. This new screen, which will first appear in 6.5″ versions but can be made larger, might be the best of both worlds.
Hopefully they work with real gloves and not just those flimsy parade gloves. People who live in cold regions don’t wear flimsy cotton.