The principle behind the touchscreen kiosk is to offer customers a level of convenience by alleviating long lines and providing faster service. Yet more often than not, kiosks are frustrating, confusing, and less than helpful. The result is either customers end up waiting in line or raising their hand for assistance.

StacoSwitch, a southern California manufacturing company, is trying to eliminate the frustration and confusion that come with using touchscreens by introducing tactile feedback touchscreen technology from Immersion Corporation. The major weakness in traditional touchscreen technology is the lack of tactile feedback. Users are left wondering, "How can I be sure my input was accepted by the system?" By using tactile feedback, the touchscreen offers the perception of touching physical buttons or switches. When a user makes a selection, they feel an actual response to their input.

Why tactile feedback?
Just as "black and white" silent movies evolved to include High-Definition color with Surround Sound, touchscreen displays can be transformed into a much more pleasurable and intuitive interface. Adding tactile feedback to a flat, hard screen moves the user to the next generation of ergonomic efficiency.

Applications
Industries such as aerospace, entertainment, industrial, automotive, communications, computing, medical, and retail will benefit by replacing conventional touchscreens with tactile touchscreens. Kevin Judd, vice president of Marketing for StacoSwitch said, "One of the single greatest barriers to the full adoption of touchscreens in many applications has been the lack of positive feedback," he said. "Many of the military applications we work with require operators to multitask in high-stress situations, and the operators need the positive touch feedback to know they have completed the activation of a system or function without diverting their attention fully to a screen to watch for visual cues. Sound is often not an option, since the environments are generally noisy or the operator is wearing a helmet which filters out the sound."

StacoSwitch is on the leading edge of the tactile feedback revolution with expertise in cost-reduction, miniaturizing, integrating, and porting this technology to different environments. The technology can be applied to all types of touchscreens, including capacitive, resistive (4-, 5-, and 8- wire), surface acoustic wave, and infrared.

About StacoSwitch:
Based in Southern California, StacoSwitch has been a leading provider of Lighted Pushbutton Display Switches and Indicators, Rugged Keyboards and Keypads, and Lighting and Switching Electronic Controllers worldwide for over 45 years. Additionally, StacoSwitch offers LED Products, Digital Pulse Dimmers, and Tactile Feedback Touchscreen Solutions. StacoSwitch serves a variety of markets including U.S. military, law enforcement, industrial, medical, and first responder industries. These markets require products able to withstand extreme environments and repetitive wear conditions. StacoSwitch is a leader with field-proven experience in these demanding, rapidly-growing global markets.