Zybrid chosen to create interactive dining tables

Interactive functionality is enabled by embedding the Zybrid touch sensors inside the tabletops of the Taipei restaurant.

The touch screen operates in conjunction with a computer-controlled projector mounted over each table, which presents interactive menus on the surface.

Customers can then select by touching the table and are able to scroll through the menus to preview and order food.

Once food orders have been placed, they are recorded and submitted to the kitchen.

An additional series of interactive services is also available via the touch screen, enabling customers to engage in instant messaging with diners on other tables, access images and play games while they wait for their orders to arrive.

Zybrid is based on Zytronic's proprietary projected capacitive touch (PCT) sensing technology, where the sensing element comprises an array of 10um-diameter copper capacitors arranged in an XY grid and embedded in a laminated substrate behind a durable front glass panel.

This allows the sensor to be completely sealed into its enclosure, protecting it from liquid ingress.

The matrix of capacitors is near invisible when the display is activated.

A unique feature of all PCT sensors is the ability to adjust Z-axis touch sensitivity via the Zytronic-supplied driver, allowing users to operate the touch sensors wearing heavy work gloves or through thick protective glass or polycarbonate overlays.

Sunvision's brief for the Mojo project was to create networked touch tables using this capability to penetrate the 10mm wooden tabletops.

Zybrid's ability to allow accurate and rapid touch detection through a thick overlaying material was central to the success of the project.

Using Zybrid, rather than other front-face-active touch-screen technologies, has enabled Sunvision to create smooth, bezel-free table surfaces, which are not only aesthetically pleasing but also convenient for both customers and restaurant owners, as touch performance is unaffected by drink or food spills and tables can be wiped clean.

The rapid touch response that Zybrid offers also gives Mojo's customers the instant service they expect and, with the sensors embedded within each tabletop, PCT's drift-free operation is key to helping minimise maintenance overheads.