09 July, 2020: By Ajoy Maitra
Historians consider the first touch screen to be a capacitive touch screen invented by E.A. Johnson at the Royal Radar Establishment, Malvern, UK, around 1965 - 1967. The inventor published a full description of touch screen technology for air traffic control in an article published in 1968. In 2002, Microsoft introduced the Windows XP Tablet edition and started its entry into touch technology. However, you could say that the increase in the popularity of touch screen smart phones defined the 2000s. In 2007, Apple introduced the king of smartphones, the iPhone, with nothing but touch screen technology.

With more advancing years and present scenario of widespread COVID-19 pandemic, the need of touchless technology evolved thereby changing the common behaviors & habits of interaction. Prior to the global coronavirus outbreak, touchless technology has been taking the form of minimal contact gadgets and systems such as voice-activated and sensor technologies. Businesses all over the world are contemplating how to reduce human contact in the manufacture, transport and retail of goods in order to minimise the possibility of infection, and how increased automation can fill the gaps left by fewer socially distanced employees. The need for automation was already a pressing issue in Japan with its ageing population and labour shortages.

A new survey revealed users are engaging and using voice-based home assistants more than ever and for a suite of purposes, such as "to entertain them; to supply them; to support them; to keep them fit and to act as a window to the wider world." The findings are based on a survey by Voxyl Digital, which also found that 40% of respondents indicated they would continue to use their voice assistant and possibly even more post-pandemic. Alongside voice-activated technologies, motion sensor technology will follow a likely rising trend in adoption as well. For instance, automatic doors and switches are the norms for countries such as Hong Kong and China, which were once hit by the 2003 SARS epidemic. As opposed to in the US, whereby revolving doors and push and pull door handles are more common.
Airports are leaders in the use of new technology, which will make touchless travel possible and hasten aviation's recovery from COVID-19. To ensure that the global airport industry gets back on its feet as quickly as possible, one area for the industry's overarching focus is to ensure that airports are no longer defined by interminable, seemingly endless lines of passengers in close contact with each other. Passengers must feel safe and confident to travel again: long, slow moving lines, accomplish exactly the opposite. After all the media public service announcements and celebrity reminders to wash our hands, wear face masks, disinfect everything, and use common sense, the answer for the airport industry may be leading-edge technology. And, specifically, technology that enables a touchless travel experience.


Biometrics: A Touchless Experience
Biometrics allows a person to be identified and authenticated based on a set of recognizable and verifiable data, which are unique and specific to them. Biometric authentication is the process of comparing data for the person's characteristics to that person's biometric "template" to determine resemblance. Touchless biometrics will be among major drivers pushing the touchless sensing market to grow from $6.8 billion this year to $15.3 billion in 2025, a 17.4 percent CAGR, and the global market for gesture recognition will grow by a spectacular 27 percent CAGR from $9.8 billion in 2020 to $32.3 billion in 2025, according to new research available from MarketsandMarkets. According to the "Gesture Recognition and Touchless Sensing Market" report, growth in the gesture market will be driven by connected cars, and growing digitization in various industries, the low technical complexity of the technology and advanced user experience.

Touchless ATM Withdrawals
At the earliest, people would be able to withdraw cash without touching anything. AGS Transact Technologies, a provider of cash and digital payment solutions and automation technology, said it has successfully developed and tested a touchless ATM solution in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 'contactless' solution, currently under demo at interested banks, enables a customer to perform all the steps required to withdraw cash from an ATM using the mobile app itself.
The customer simply has to scan the QR code displayed on the ATM screen and follow the directions on their respective bank's mobile application. This includes entering the amount and mPIN required to dispense the cash from the ATM machine. According to the company, the QR code feature makes cash withdrawals quicker and more secure and negates the chances of compromising the ATM Pin or card skimming.

Other Sectors
In India, Uber is using a technology to check if a driver is wearing mask. The technology will check if a driver is wearing a mask based on the selfie driver sends whenever he starts the ride. Zomato recently launched contactless dining for post-lockdown world. This include digital menu by scanning QR code, ordering through app and contactless payments.
Infosys launched contact-less baggage management solutions for a North American airline. Cognizant introduced touchless authorisation processing for healthcare service providers. More such solutions will be the norm going forward across sectors.


Though cost is the main challenge behind such touchless technology, it is the need of the hour for the adoption in a Global pandemic situation. However, in its nascent stage, it seems to be tough for the firms to implement new technology, soon wider adoption may bring down the prices.
Another issue is with use of facial recognition that is likely to gain pace with COVID-19. Facial recognition uses facial features to recognise an individual. Unlike fingerprints or iris, the identification is not accurate though works are on to improve accuracy. There have been cases where the technology has made inaccurate identification when it comes to people of colour, especially transgenders and ethnic minorities.