The coronavirus pandemic has triggered efforts to make our lifestyle more adaptable to pandemic scenarios. Actions are naturally driven to strategies to reduce the risk of viruses spreading, particularly in public places such as events and exhibitions, hotels, malls, airports, railway stations, where touch screens on self-service kiosks, ATMs, and vending machines are nearly inevitable.
Recently Bengaluru based scientists from the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced and Scientific Research (JNCASR), autonomous institutes of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, has set up a semi-automated production plant for the production of printing-aided patterned transparent electrodes, which has the potential for being utilized in advanced touchless screen technologies.
Dr. Ashutosh K Singh, a scientist working on this project, said that the novel low-cost patterned transparent electrodes have tremendous potential to be used in advanced smart electronic devices like touchless screens and sensors. This touchless touch sensor technology could assist in preventing the spread of viruses that spread through contact. “We have fabricated a touch sensor which senses a proximal or hovers touch even from a distance of 9 cm from the device”.
