Could it be the End of the Stylus Pen with New Touch Screen Technology?

Most of us think of the grocery store check out, department store credit transaction terminals or the mail delivery service when we think of stylus pens- a plastic tool resembling a pen, usually attached by a cord to sign our signatures in agreement to payment, into an electronic tablet recorder. Stylus tools have been around since ancient Egyptians used river reeds to scroll into clay tablets, but now with the age of the touch screen, we may not be using stylus tools any longer- simply our finger tips is all that is needed.

The New Stylus is Now Your Finger!

With new <a title=Touch screen at Cirque! Href=http://www.cirque.com/uploads/products/touch_screen_panel.html>touch screen</a> technology, all one needs is their own fingertips to move objects around a screen. Microsoft's new touch screen coffee table, Apple's iPhone and several other touch screen gadgets now on the market only require one's finger as a stylus pen, leaving the old plastic stylus pens on the shelf.

Even though the iPhone can be touched with one's fingertips people have complained that their pudgy fingers always hit extra buttons and that they prefer to use a stylus instead, like they would with a Palm Pilot.  For exactly this reason, and several others, the stylus pen won't be disappearing altogether, only evolving with the times.

Pogo

Ah, the Pogo- a new type of stylus that is created to simulate a pointer, with the ability to connect with the <a title=Capacitive sensor at Cirque! Href=http://www.cirque.com/uploads/technologies/capacitive_sensor.html>capacitive sensor</a> of new hi-tech touch screens, like the iPhone, or other touch screen phones. Therefore, people with long nails, pudgy fingers or those wearing gloves, rather than removing them, can just use their Pogo to activate the capacitive sensor.

What 's the Capacitive Sensor All About?

A capacitive touch screen panel is coated with a thin indium tin oxide material that conducts continuous electrical currents across a sensor- say a touch screen of an iPhone.  So it exudes a controlled electronic field in both a vertical and horizontal axis and therefore is capacitive. In order for the capacitive technology to function, it must be touched by something else that also exhibits electricity- like the human body. When a person's finger touches a capacitive screen, it sends an electric current to then form a mathematical function which signals an action.

So it's Not Really The End for the Stylus Pen?

Well, not exactly. Technology is fast for sure, but people can be relatively slow to catch up. Therefore, PDAs with stylus pens and grocery stores and malls with stylus pens on their tablets will likely be around for quite some time. After all, our fingers are designed to touch, but make a lousy tool for delicate drawings, writing more than a sentence or touching something teeny and delicate. It's likely that unless our fingers get skinnier, the stylus pen will be around for quite some time.

About the Author:

About the author: Melissa Peterman is a web content specialist for Innuity for more information regarding capacitive sensor or touch screen go to CIRQUE