“I’ll touch base with you tomorrow.”
“That was a very touching story.”
“My boss is so out of touch.”
Touching things is so much a part of how we humans navigate through this world that there are endless metaphorical uses for the word “touch.” In UNIX and Linux operating systems, there is even a “touch” command, which updates the last-accessed timestamp of a file, or creates an empty file if it doesn’t exist.
Sometimes it’s better if we can perform tasks without touching things. Whether to avoid spreading germs, to realize greater speed and accuracy of data entry, or for simple convenience, touchless system interfaces are becoming more common all the time. There’s a growing list of applications for touchless technology.
Let’s explore the most common technologies underlying touchless interfaces and some of the innovative ways these technologies are being used.
The most common technologies enabling touchless interfaces are radio-frequency identification (RFID) and near-field communications (NFC). Both rely on radio-frequency signals to exchange data between devices.
You’ve probably seen RFID tags. They’re commonly applied to items in retail stores. These small square stickers have a characteristic “square spiral” of metal winding its way from the edge to the center of the tag. A small electronic circuit stores a unique digital identifier or other data and a tiny radio receiver/transmitter is attached to the metal spiral, which acts as an antenna.
When an RFID reader device transmits a signal at a certain frequency, the RFID tag picks up the signal and transmits its data (usually a unique identifier) back to the RFID reader. It’s similar to using a barcode scanner except there’s no need for an unobstructed line of sight between the RFID reader and the tag.
There are two types of RFID tags: active and passive. Passive RFID tags don’t need a power source. They are powered by the signal from the RFID reader. Active RFID tags contain a small battery or solar cell and can transmit data without the aid of the RFID reader. RFID systems work within a range of about 10 meters.
NFC systems can incorporate passive or active tags, but at present NFC is more commonly used to transmit data between larger-scale devices, such as between a cellphone and an ATM. As the name “near-field” implies, NFC works only short-range; less than 10 centimeters. Like RFID, the typical NFC connection is maintained only long enough to exchange short bursts of data.
So, what are these touchless technologies good for? Lots of innovative applications have been developed using each of them.
Because of its greater flexibility, NFC has seen even more interesting applications.
Look for more creative uses for these touchless technologies in the near future. The speed and convenience of touchless interfaces will one day make us wonder how we did anything without them.