Fact 135: Who first invented the touch screen and what was it used for?
Fact 135: Who first invented the touch screen and what was it used for?
The first touch screen was invented in 1965 by Eric Arthur Johnson he built the first touch screen (in Malvern, England) at the Royal Radar Establishment (RRE). Basically the RAF needed someone to create a device or something to help with accurate decision making for air traffic control operators and this device also had to have a good response time (no delays), and so Johnson create a touch screen (interface) to control the uk British Air traffic control computers.
Eric A. Johnson patented his design in 1966, Johnson later improved and made some adjustments to the design in 1969.
Eric A. Johnson wrote in a journal called
Touch display—a novel input/output device for computers,
On the 1st October 1965, (on page 219 – 220)
About his invention and he writes "This device, the ‘touch display’, provides a very efficient coupling between man and machine."
The uk air traffic control centers only started to properly introducing touch screens on their computers some time in the in the late 1900s (I look everywhere and on every website I look I just said "late 1900s").
