Proposal for a New Operation Method in Resistive Touch Panels Development of a Resistive Touch Panel with a Proximity Sensing Function

　　　　　
　Recently, our firm commercialized a resistive touch panel with a proximity sensing function that recognizes when a hand is brought close to it and started sales promotion activities for this.
　With the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets, attention has been focused on capacitive touch panels, which are capable of supporting multi-touch, flick Note1) and hover Note2). However, resistive touch panels which detect input with the push of a finger or pen are still being used in a wide range of applications because they are low cost and it is possible to obtain stable input with operation errors less likely to occur.
　Our firm has developed a touch panel with a proximity sensing function as a proposal for a new input method in resistive touch panels. This makes it possible to detect input at a distance of up to 5 cm from the touch panel operation surface. Various operations become possible when a hand is held up to touch panels with this proximity function.
These include: 

・A screen that is OFF can be switched ON. (Refer to the【Product Photograph】)

・The device can automatically switch from the view screen to the input mode screen.

・This can be made to function as a non-contact switch separate from touch operations. (Refer to the【Product Photograph】)

【Product Photograph】

Proximity Sensing	OFF	ON
External Appearance

Note1) Flick:　This is an operation to slide just by lightly touching the screen with a finger or pen.
Note2) Hover: This is a touch assist function that makes operations possible even without directly coming into contact with the touch panel.