Magic touchscreen Add on Kits

by **noviceboy** on Thu Mar 11, 2004 10:21 am

http://www.magictouchscreens.co.uk/index.htm

Wrong place but, might be a tip.
Anyone any practical experience of these "strap on" touchscreens?. Might be a economical way in conjunction with old second hand laptops to get touch screen clients in more places.

by **sdumas** on Thu Mar 11, 2004 12:50 pm

I own three of these gizmos. I cracked one of them...

I love them. I have one totally external with the frame on. I use it on a regular monitor. The only issue is one of depth perception. Since the touchscreen is sticking out about an inch or so from the monitor, you have the feeling to touch the "air" instead of the actual screen. You need to get use to it.

One of the touchscreen I ordered was without a frame around it. I took a Samsung 150z 15' flat screen, opened it and put the touchscreen between the frame and the screen itself. That worked like a charm, once I installed it right. The first one I installed, I tighthened the screws too much and cracked the screen - I kissed good-bye $150... You need to make sure that the touchscreen glass fits freely in between. I had to file some of the internal section of the frame to make it fit properly.

It's very simple to use. It's basically a mouse driver. Your finger is the mouse.

Good luck

by **noviceboy** on Thu Mar 11, 2004 1:04 pm

Thanks.

Are they accurate, responsive? I.e the position of finger isn't critical for it to trigger the underlying button? So I guess the real question is they are they not significantly worse that pointing the mouse cursor at the button?

How do they connect via usb, wih a mouse driver?
Do they work at different resolutions reliably? Do they work after being on constantly?

Just looking for realworld as apposed to their web site answers.

thanks for your efforts

by **ThE ScReW** on Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:16 am

Noviceboy, why don't you come with us on the irc channel? You'll like it over there

by **Colby** on Fri Mar 12, 2004 10:42 pm

I have some Add-on touchscreens, they work great.

How do they connect via usb, wih a mouse driver?
Do they work at different resolutions reliably? Do they work after being on constantly?

They work with either serial or USB you need to specify which you want when you order. A driver is provide with purchase. Also resolution isnt really a matter of consideration because a touchscreen works the same as a mouse, which is independent of resolution. However, you will want lower resolution because fingers are fatter than a mouse pointer, or you could use a stylus. for example on a 15" touchscreen monitor at 800x600 resolution a round button is 60 pixels, the size of your finger.

by **noviceboy** on Sat Mar 13, 2004 7:52 am

, or you could use a pointer. for example on a 15" touchscreen monitor at 800x600 resolution a round button is 60 pixels, the size of your finger.

Thanks. I guess it's a case of making buttons bigger enough and well spaced.

by **Arthur** on Sat Mar 13, 2004 5:28 pm

An other thing to bear in mind when designing a skin for thouch screen use: you will never hover over a button (You either click on it or don't click on it). So for example the musical note in exp40 main menu will not show when a thouchscreen is used.

by **sdumas** on Mon Mar 15, 2004 3:12 am

They are pretty precise.

It is necessary to calibrate them one in a while (once per three/four months or so). It is easy and painless.

The bigger the buttons, the better. I tend to not cram too much info on a page. The less the better. I like the minimalist approach to things. The simpler, the better.

When there are too many things on a screen it becomes confusing. I make smarter buttons; like "Turn everything on/off", or "Play a DVD". These buttons are designed to call everything needed to perform the actual function with NO interventions from the end-user. For music you actually need to make more things available, but, again with a touchscreen the minimalist approach prevail.

Have fun!

by **mattdisaster** on Mon Mar 15, 2004 4:09 am

Arthur wrote:An other thing to bear in mind when designing a skin for thouch screen use: you will never hover over a button (You either click on it or don't click on it). So for example the musical note in exp40 main menu will not show when a thouchscreen is used.

This is true, but you could always, using the new awesome event editor, set it to display them for a few seconds before going to the actual screen. Just an idea heh.

-matt

by **noviceboy** on Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:07 am

An other thing to bear in mind when designing a skin for thouch screen use: you will never hover over a button (You either click on it or don't click on it). So for example the musical note in exp40 main menu will not show when a thouchscreen is used.

Really?. I thought it was behaving as a mouse driver? If mouse cursor is visible and I drag it with my finger over a button, would then any hidden items appear?

by **Arthur** on Mon Mar 15, 2004 6:16 pm

You'r right. I just tried it and if I put my finger on the screen and move towards the music button, it shows the musical note. However. When using a thouchscreen, one doesn't have to move the mouse pointer from one location to another. You just point where you want to click, so the musical note will not show.
Arthur