When it comes to unique screens for interactive slot machines, Zytronic says you can touch this.
The British company, which was officially founded in 2000 but traces its roots to a glass manufacturer that began operations 70 years ago, is showing off its latest multitouch controllers this week at the Global Gaming Expo at the Las Vegas Sands Expo and Convention Center.
Zytronic’s customizable slot screens allow multiple touch-points as well as physical dials within the screen.
“We’re a 100-percent custom touch-screen manufacturer,” said Robert W. Spencer, director of sales for the Americas. “People come to us when they have really unique problems they need to solve, or they want a distinctive design to make themselves stand out in the marketplace.”
That includes, for example, large, curved-glass slot machines and ultra-responsive touch controllers designed for use in skill-based gaming.
Zytronic’s current gaming customers include Aristocrat and Gamblit Gaming. The company’s touch sensors are also in use around the world in ATMs, digital signs, kiosks and in industrial and medical settings – essentially, everything except military and consumer use, Spencer said.
Very basically, touch-screens work when a user’s finger causes a change in the flow of electricity in the screen, according to sciencelink.org. In “resistive” screens, such as the ones used to sign for a credit card purchase, the change is caused by the pressure of a stylus, finger, or other object on the glass. In “capacitive” screens, such as cell phones and tablets, the change is caused by the electrical charge in human skin.
One thing that sets Zytronic apart from other manufacturers is its use of super-thin copper wire within the glass, instead of the more common practice of coating the screen with indium tin oxide, or ITO. Spencer said the wire is 10 microns wide, barely over half the width of a human hair.
The use of copper wire allows Zytronic to produce touch screens in any size from about 5 inches to 100 inches, he said. In addition, the copper wire has a higher sensitivity than ITO.
Zytronic is also demonstrating its ZXY500 touch controller at G2E, which allows machines to incorporate wireless functions, such as near-field communication (NFC). NFC allows two devices in close proximity (1.6 inches or less) to communicate with each other wirelessly. In slot machines, that capability could include payment processing or Qi-based phone charging. The company said those features are not possible on conventional touchscreens because of the wireless signals emitted by NFC and Qi.
Zytronic’s display, in G2E booth 1335, includes a live game on an interactive table that has four physical controls located in holes cut into the touch surface. Zytronic’s touch sensors can accommodate a range of mechanical controls, from a simple push button that could be used for placing a bet to a dial whose position is detected through the touch sensor.
The new Zytronic screens and controllers utilize ultra-thin bezels to allow for near-borderless touch displays, giving game designers extra space to work with.
The company says that the new ZXY500 controller can support up to 80 simultaneous touches, enabling true multi-user interactivity. It also updates touch coordinates in a single millisecond, a third faster than previous generation controllers.
