Introducing the Touchless 15.6inch Capacitive Screen Overlay: A Revolution in Interactive Technology!

Alps Alpine has introduced a touchless capacitive overlay designed to enable proximity control on 15.6-inch displays. The overlay, known as HCEPM0x002A, offers a detection range of 50-80mm for hand or finger proximity, 30-50mm for selecting an action, and 0-30mm for activating an action. According to the company, capacitive touch panels provide intuitive input and control, but are obstructed by wet or oily hands, hands with chemicals, and gloves. Touchless displays, on the other hand, utilize the space directly in front of the panel for no-touch operation.

The HCEPM0x002A overlay measures 368 x 220mm, with a viewing area of 346.6 x 195.6mm. It is attached to a 110 x 100mm support PCB via a flexi, and connects to a host PC through a USB Micro Type-B connector. In addition to x-y coordinates, the panel can also output a count value for proximity in the z-axis. The touch accuracy is ±5mm in x and y, and ±10mm in non-touch proximity (hover distance unspecified). The overlay operates in temperatures ranging from 0 to 40°C and up to 90% humidity without condensation.

Alps Alpine provides dedicated control software for Windows, allowing users to adjust the visual part of the user interface to achieve the desired operating feel and enable various touchless operation scenarios. The software associated with the part number is denoted by the 'x'. For example, HCEPM0A002 requires preparation of PC software based on USB vendor class information, while HCEPM0B002 is used in conjunction with dedicated control software for Windows. The HCEPM0C002 variant includes a license key for dedicated control software bundled for low-volume customer sample requests.

The touchless capacitive overlay is expected to find applications in industrial food processing machines, commercial kitchen and cooking equipment, public computer terminals, medical systems, and explosion-proof equipment. Although limited information is available on the product page for the HCEPM0A002A, detailed information is unfortunately behind a data wall.