A Comparison Of The Multi-Touch Screen And The Mouse-Driven Monitor Essay

1. See Power Point
2. Traditional mouse-driven monitors rely on the use of point-and-click techniques performed by the user in order to receive the necessary data for the computer to process. When an application is selected, the user double-clicks to select and the program initiates. Affordance is provided through the use of pointers by enabling visual and behavioral properties of an object to indicate how it is used. Touch screen monitors do not provide the same level of affordance. Guidelines in this area are to present consistent visuals so that users can determine if an object is clickable without having to clicks it and use certain pointers, such as the hand or link select pointer to select links only. While mice are considered to be intuitive, there are some areas in which the intuitiveness is not present. These are considered to be advanced directives and include the use of right-clicking, double-clicking, and clinking in conjunction with the Shift or Ctrl key modifiers. Mice play nicely when four rules are consistently applied:

Ensure mouse behaviors are consistent with standard effects and use standard pointers to provide consistency for the users.

Keep advanced mouse interactions limited to advanced tasks with a target audience of advanced users.
When advanced mouse interactions are required, ensure these behaviors are consistent and predictable to ensure effective use.
Make sure your program provides the opportunity for forgiveness so undesired actions can be reversed or corrected, especially for commands that are destructive.
A user should still be provided the opportunity to supply all commands through the keyboard with the exception of activities that require fine motor skills, such as intricate games or drawing (Microsoft, n.d.).
Touch screen monitors provide an interactive experience for the user as physical gestures are translated and processed. This emulates the point-and-click aspect of a mouse-driven monitor to provide direct manipulation of the user interface. Microsoft Windows has the capability to process three types of user interaction events, pointer, gesture, and manipulation. Pointer events provide basic information such as device type, location, pressure, and contact geometry. Gesture events consist of static single0finger activities, such as tapping and press-and-hold. Manipulation events do not identify the interaction. Instead, input data comprised from certain factors, such as position, translation delta, and velocity to perform the interaction following the determination of the manipulation. Manipulation events are dynamic and consist of multi-touch interactions such as stretching and pinching, as well as interactions that utilize inertia and velocity data such as panning, scrolling, zooming, and rotating the screen.

Areas that play nicely with touch screen interaction are

Interactions that reflect objects in reality and are natural and intuitive.
Less distracting than typing or clicking and are considered to be less intrusive.
Even though multi-touch screen monitors are becoming more common, the majority of devices that utilize this technology are portable and flexible.
Using a touch screen provides the sensation of direct manipulation of objects on the screen which makes it more direct and engaging.

Objects are not as easily targeted, which often makes the touch less accurate.

Responsiveness and consistency are necessities to ensure the computing experience is direct and engaging while feeling natural and intuitive (Microsoft, n.d.).
3. A multi-touch monitor allows two or more points to be touched simultaneously in order to send commands to the computer. These points have to be programmed appropriately in order to distinguish the points touched on the surface in order to accurately process the requests. There are four touch technologies, capacitive, resistive, optical, and SAW used in conjunction with infrared technology to operate. Capacitive touch screens contain circuits in the corners to measure the touch on the overlay, which is a capacitive, or charge storing, material which coats a panel of glass. A capacitive touch screen will not respond to gloved hands or a stylus. When the screen is touched, the controller calculates the x_y location of the point of contact, and then transmits the coordinates to the computer. Resistive touch screens utilize glass or acrylic panels coated with electrically resistive and conductive layers, which contain invisible separator dots. As pressure is applied to the screen, the layers are compress which causes the electrical currents to change and registers the touch. The controller then processes the coordinates by sending the information to the computer to determine where the touch occurred. Optical monitors employ optical sensors to determine touch points, which register prior to the screen actually being touched. Numerous input devices, such as styluses, fingers, or pens will trigger a response as these monitors are sensitive enough that a very light touch or even an almost touch will cause reaction. A SAW monitor utilizes surface acoustic wave technology. This process employs ultrasonic waves in which a portion of the wave is absorbed as the screen is touched. The position of the touch event is registered through the change in the ultrasonic waves and is then sent to the controller for processing. The construction consists of pure glass and does not send electrical charges through the screen. Infrared technology consists of printed wiring board contained within the frame. The electronics are mounted on the wiring board, covered by an infrared-transparent bezel. Infrared LEDs and photo transistors are mounted on opposite sides, creating a grid on infrared light. When the infrared light grid is interrupted by a touch, the input is relayed to the controller for processing. Multi-touch technology allows easier interaction for users through various devices utilizing touch screens. This improves response times and increases flexibility (Chauhan, 2015).
The more traditional mouse-driven computer monitor, which once utilized a ball for navigation along the mouse pad, has evolved to utilize either a laser or a LED light, which “reads” the position of the cursor. The light from an optical mouse reflects off the surface of the mouse pad and is transmitted to the CMOS sensor. This sensor then transmits each image to a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) for processing. Through the images that are sent to the DSP for analysis, the DSP has the ability to determine if the mouse has been moved, how far it traveled, and how quickly by detecting patterns and images. The computer receives the coordinates and indicates the location of the pointer on the screen (Tech-Faq, 2014). The user maneuvers the mouse with one hand and selects objects on the screen through the point and click method.

References

Chauhanm S.S., (07 February 2015). Multitouch Interaction. Slideshare. Retrieved on 15 April 2015 from http://www.slideshare.net/saurabhschauhan/multitouch-interaction
Microsoft, (n.d.). Mouse and Pointers. Retrieved on 17 April 2015 from https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dn742466%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
Microsoft, (n.d.). Touch. Retrieved on 17 April 2015 from https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dn742468%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
Tech-Faq, (09 July 2014). How an Optical Mouse Works. Retrieved on 15 April 2015 from http://www.tech-faq.com/how-an-optical-mouse-works.html