Touchless input solution employs high-sensitivity capacitive sensing technology

Alps Alpine has started sales of an AirInput product supporting touchless and touch input based on original high-sensitivity capacitive sensing technology.

Capacitive touch panels are increasingly prevalent as a form of input for smartphones through to industrial equipment because of the convenience provided by intuitive input and control. The flipside is that wet or oily hands obstruct normal capacitive touch panel input, hands dirty with chemicals, and glove-wearing. Touching the control surface with dirty hands means it has to be cleaned while having to remove gloves before use can be quite a hassle. When hygiene needs to be strictly controlled or contamination prevented, even touching a touch panel can be problematic.

The panel addresses these issues as a new input method, making use of the space directly in front of the panel for no-touch operation, thereby improving the work or operating environment.

This panel has been adapted for 15.6"-wide general-purpose displays, which are predicted to enjoy growth in the industrial equipment market. As well as X-Y coordinates, the panel can also output a count value for proximity in the height direction (Z axis). Combined with a user interface that continuously conveys the position of a detected finger, the panel allows intuitive control in mid-air operation, helping to realise quick input with few errors. As an option for customers who wish to convert existing applications developed for touch operation into touchless applications but cannot develop the software themselves, we also provide panel dedicated control software for Windows. Installing the software allows customers to omit the software development process and use existing input screens in a touchless setup. Customers can adjust user interface settings, colours, sizes and other parameters on the settings screen to achieve the desired operating feel and realise a wide range of touchless operation scenarios.