Touchscreens are enhancing almost every aspect of our day to day lives, from how we interact with equipment in the workplaces to how we control the appliances in our homes, but they are also increasingly becoming an important part of our “down time” with more and more leisure applications opting for self-service touch interactivity to minimise maintenance costs and downtime, maximise revenue and improve customer accessibility, experience, and enjoyment.
Irrespective of the environment, users expect the same reliable and responsive functionality to that they receive from their personal, portable devices such as smartphones or tablets. However, touch screens deployed equipment designed for public-facing Leisure applications need combine a much more demanding set of attributes, in order to “wow” their audience.
…and Zytronic’s unique touch technologies are capable of doing exactly that!
PCT™ (single/dual touch) and MPCT™ (full multi touch) screens can be completely customised based upon the needs of the client. Options include: An almost limitless choice of sizing, shapes and glass thicknesses. There are also multiple options for special glass treatments including, toughened, anti-reflective, mirrored and anti-microbial. Bespoke edge finishing, cut outs, holes and slots, as well as screen-printed borders, increase functionality and help to make a touch display stand out from the crowd.
Furthermore, customers can even specify whether their touch screen is flat or curved, as Zytronic has the capability to bend glass at its extensive in-house facility.
Fig. 1: Zytronic curved kiosk concept with twin ZyBrid® multitouch sensors (19” letterbox and 42-inch curved) combined on a single piece of toughened, printed, Anti-Glare etched glass.
Embracing the trend towards self-service leisure applications incorporating touchscreens is HUMElab, a French interactive furniture producer who has utilised Zytronic’s MPCT™ technology in 22, 23 and 42-inch formats, to create its “TABATA” range -a series of stylish yet durable multi-touch tables. Targeted at use in the home, restaurants and hospitality areas, each TABATA table incorporates a thick, toughened glass ZyBrid® multi touch sensor, responsive, and sensitive enough to satisfy the most demanding tablet user, but capable of withstanding the bumps, spills and even abuse that a piece of furniture in a public area will encounter.
Similarly Suzo Happ’s SHIFT 40-inch InteractivePro table has been designed using 6mm toughened glass ZyBrid® multitouch sensor, allowing 4 or more players to browse the web, play and gamble in bars, clubs and casinos, and is capable of handling even the most boisterous of clients ! The combination of reliability and performance has lead the SHIFT InteractivePro table to be chosen by MGM Resorts for deployment in a number of its prestigious properties:
Another example of touchscreens being deployed in challenging entertainment and leisure environments can be seen in Sound Leisure’s VenueHub jukebox, designed for deployment in UK pubs. Packed with innovative features the interactive jukebox boasts a sleek and practical, smooth-fronted all-glass design. With the ability to access an online database of over 5.5 million songs with a touch of the screen, the VenueHub appeals to the current generation of iPad using revellers, and Sound Leisure has incorporated intuitive gesture based touch controls into the unit. As a consequence of its matchless durability and reliability in the toughest environments, Sound Leisure has used Zytronic’s touch sensors for over a decade.
Fig. 2: The Sound Leisure VenueHub video jukebox utilises a 23-inch ZyBrid® customised touch sensor, featuring a 6mm thick protective glass panel which safeguards it against extreme levels of impact and vandalism. Utilising Zytronic’s expert glass processing abilities, the units also incorporate cut-out slots for card and cash payments.
Zytronic is also ensuring that slot machines are durable enough to withstand good luck traditions in South America, where the ritual of kissing your diamond ring and touching it to the screen before playing was wreaking havoc with inferior touch technologies – with the resulting scratch, stopping the touchscreen from working, and rendering the game useless. Global Monitor, Mexico’s leading specialist supplier of displays to the slot machine industry, utilised Zytronic’s robust Projected Capacitive Technology (PCT™) touch sensors for manufacturer, International Gold Club, to solve this issue, ensuring reliable year-round performance.
Juan Manuel Sanchez Ramirez, of Global Monitor comments, “Women in Mexico often kiss their diamond rings and touch them to the screens for luck. This tradition was quickly scratching the surface capacitive touch sensors and causing them to fail, over the last six months, we have installed over 300 screens with Zytronic PCT touch overlays. The technology is extremely fast and accurate, and best of all we’ve had no failures due to scratches. Zytronic technology has provided a durable and reliable solution that allows players to continue their beloved ritual.”
The flexibility of Zytronic’s projected capacitive touch sensor manufacturing processes allows us to supply screens in unique designs, and small quantities to a sector where aesthetics, speed of response and reliability are all key in drawing customers to engage and come back time and again.
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