Touchscreen Computers | Tangent Blog

Toss the Mouse and Keyboard, the Future is Touchscreen

We are truly living in the age of touchscreen technology. According to eMarketer, 2.4 billion people were using smartphones worldwide in 2017, and 1.2 billion people were using tablet devices. The adoption figures are projected to increase even more over the coming years. An entire generation of children have now grown up using touchscreen tablets and telephones. So considering that most of the world is comfortable with touchscreen computing, it makes perfect sense that touchscreen panel PCs are gaining a lot of traction in businesses.

For a very long time, keyboards and mouse devices were cumbersome requisite peripherals to the computing experience. The roller balls in computer mice were like magnets for dust and lint and that would foul up the device very quickly. Optical and wireless mice were an an improvement, but contaminants could still block the sensors and running out of battery was a major inconvenience to one’s work day. The amount of gross things a keyboard can collect over its lifetime is a whole topic on its own. And at the end of the day, if either device failed, one had to pray that they had a backup on hand lest they lose valuable work time.

An industrial grade panel PC with a touchscreen that is built to work with gloved hands is perfect for medical settings where contamination or infection control is a critical factor for health and compliance. The Vita KW series of panel PCs from Tangent offers a wide range of sizes from
15 inches to 24 inches and many mounting options to suit a variety of uses, for example, a patient information kiosk, a medical cart panel PC, an in-room computer, a medical records and billing panel PC, and so much more. For medical computers that don’t require the use of gloves, but do need to be kept clean, the KW series panel PC can be sprayed and wiped with disinfectants without any threat of harming the panel PC or worry that it won’t be completely cleaned. The KW series panel PCs are rated at an IP65, meaning that they highly protected against dust and water ingress. That cannot be said of keyboards or mice for the most part. Unless a waterproof mouse and keyboard are used (which are also offered by Tangent), there’s a good chance that contaminants are lurking in the cracks and crevices of the device.

For harsher environments that are even tougher on a panel PC like industrial meat packing plants, food production facilities, and any other enterprise requiring high levels of sanitation and hygiene, the Tangent S Series panel PC is best suited to the job due to it’s IP69K rated, fully waterproof enclosure. The S series touchscreen panel PC can be sprayed with hot, high pressure jets and endure stringent wash downs without any damage to the unit. The S series is also offered in a variety of panel sizes and mounting options. Workers can used gloved or ungloved hands on the touchscreen equally well to conduct their business. It’s quite remarkable how a touchscreen panel can be both sensitive and very durable at the same time. This is the level of ingenuity and quality that Tangent offers.

Touchscreen Computers – Touching on a Future of Self-Service

Over the last couple decades, self service technologies have revolutionized how people conduct business, travel and even receive healthcare services.These technologies have vastly improved efficiency through increased control over service delivery, convenience, reduction in wait time, reduction in operating costs, and flexibility in use. At many restaurants, dozens of flavors of sodas can be mixed and dispensed at the touch of a screen, and ordering one’s own food on tablets is an increasingly popular trend. Shopping malls and corporate offices provide interactive directories to its visitors, and it is nearly impossible to encounter any ticketing area of an airport that is not brimming with touchscreen kiosks for checking in and getting flight information. Self-service touchscreen computers are appearing in hospitals in great numbers as well. Patients are checking into their appointments without the help of medical administrators which is streamlining administrative tasks like hospital registration and payments.

Touchscreen computer technology is widely available and the demand for it is extremely apparent, but how durable are these machines that are abused on a daily basis? After all, a solution is only effective if it is reliable. Luckily, industrial touchscreen computers like the ones offered by Tangent benefit from a durable and rigorously tested construction. Tangent’s S Series of 15″, 19″, and 22″ touchscreen computers are assembled with rugged, stainless steel housing that offers a corrosion resistant surface. The standard casing is IP66/NEMA 4x rated, which means the enclosure is constructed for either indoor or outdoor use and provides a degree of protection against dirt, rain, snow, windblown dust, splashing water, hose-directed water, and corrosion. The S series also has an optional IP69K rated enclosure which means that high pressure and high temperature washdown can be used to sanitize the equipment. Of course this is likely overkill for most applications, but it’s nice to know the equipment can handily be subjected to such a powerful scrub and high heat without experiencing any damage.

One of the better advancements in touchscreen technology is Projected Capacitive Touch, also known as PCAP. The first capacitive touchscreen required a bare finger to use and could not allow for multi-touch, but now PCAP touchscreens offer high precision multi-touch functionality and high response speed. They also work when operated by a hand covered in surgical gloves or other thin gloves, which is essential in a hospital or industrial settings. The S series offers this PCAP as an option on all sizes of their touchscreen PCs. And like with many of Tangent’s industrial products, the unit is rated for shock protection and has a fanless design for extreme reliability, and noise-free operation. For an added measure of autonomy and utility, the S series can be equipped with Intel Wireless AC-7260 & Bluetooth for a relatively wire-free system. The efficiencies that touchscreen computers provide are nearly boundless, and with such reliable systems available, companies are able to utilize them to their full potential.