New capacitive touchscreens can work with gloves on

One of the best things about capacitive touchscreens is that you don’t have to apply a lot of pressure when tapping on the screen for it to recognize your instructions. But because it relies on your fingertips touching the screen when in use, during winter when you’ve got your hands covered up, it becomes pretty troublesome to operate, and you have to resort to apps like NoseDial or wearing special gloves just for the occasion.

The folks over at SMK Corp recently unveiled a new touchscreen panel that is claimed to work with gloved hands. It utilizes a high-sensitivity detection chip and an improved sensor panel structure that can register input even when fabric separates fingertips from the panel itself. No word on how wearing gloves will affect accuracy of the touchscreen, but it certainly is some interesting technology.

The new touchscreens will appear in navigation and infotainment systems, with production focused on creating 6.5″ panels, and plans to go up to 8″. Perhaps these screens will also be used in tablets and smartphones in the future? Keep an eye out for them.