Get Your Touchscreen Device Ready For Winter

Think that shiny new iPhone will work with regular winter gloves on? Not without some special modifications.

With winter fast approaching in the Great White North, the popularity of a certain touchscreen phone presents an issue. (Need proof? Apple patented gloves for touchscreens on January 1st, 2009!)

While I also use a touchscreen smartphone, mine uses “resistive” technology instead of “capacitive”. The main difference between the two is how they sense touch.

Resistive screens are made of two layers. Pressing on the screen makes the two layers touch, which registers where the screen was touched and the amount of pressure exerted. Think of two pieces of paper, parallel with a small space separating them. Pushing them together registers the touch.

Capacitive touchscreens, on the other hand, are made by coating a surface (like glass) with a transparent conductive coating. An electric charge is sent through the conductor and a touch is detected when that charge is disrupted. Think of the surface of the water with ripples flowing through it. When you “touch” the water, you disrupt the ripples. The human body is a conductor and therefore disrupts the charge when you touch the screen.

The popularity of capacitive touchscreen devices like the iPhone, Android G1 and others has seen consumers learn to pinch, swipe and embrace touchscreen technology. However, because a human touch is required, these capacitive devices do not function when using gloves, a stylus or even when your hands are too dirty! Canon also recently patented a touchscreen for use on their future DSLRs!

Fortunately, with a simple weekend project, you can continue using your touchscreen devices while protecting your fingers from frostbite. Enter conductive thread.

Used wherever a touch needs to be registered (such as fencing), conductive thread allows other instruments to disrupt (or register) a touch. Apparel makes have been sewing them into jackets to make MP3 player controls, Bluetooth headset controls and a variety of other uses.

Instructables, a website dedicated to do-it-yourself projects, has an easy project to turn any glove capacitive touchscreen capable. Just take a needle and some conductive thread and sew it into the fingers to turn existing gloves into a touchscreen-friendly pointer. It’ll certainly come in handy when you need to press “Answer” on your ringing phone without fumbling to take off your gloves.

Lamé Lifesaver, based in Victoria, BC is one (Canadian) seller of conductive thread. Another is US-based SparkFun.

Happy sewing!

Filed Under: General > Handheld Devices > Mobile Phones > Portable Electronics > Portable Media Players > Smartphones > Tech Explained > iPod/iphone
Tags: capacitive, iPhone, iPod, multitouch, resistive, Smartphones, stylus, touchscreens