First of all let me state that touch screens are the best user-interface that I have encountered. There a couple of facts that need to be straightened out... Mr. Chadwick, only certain types of touch screens develop wear areas and become insensitive - generally these are the cheaper resistive type touch screens (I could go into detail). SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) touch screens are made of glass and do not have this problem... I also believe that the capacitive touch screens are also immune to this problem as they are made of glass, but I'm not 100% sure. Elographics manufactures the SAW type screen (along with cheaper resistive types) and MicroTouch manufactured the capacitive type screen. We have had an Elographics SAW touch screen for a few years now and it performs well. I recently evaluated and purchased the Microtouch touch screen and it responds faster then the SAW type touch screen and does not get "confused" if it receives input from several areas of the screen simultaneously (if someone places their whole hand on the SAW, it takes a couple of seconds to get it bearings again). Just to be fair, it's not like the SAW is slow to respond, it's just that if people don't see an immediate reaction to their touch they spaz out and begin to touch other areas to try to get a response. Also, I'm running the SAW on a 386/40, so it's possible that with a faster computer there would be no perceptable lag. Another gentleman mentioned the arcade style trackballs and how durable they were. Commercial grade trackballs are durable... last time I priced one I was quoted $800.00 by the manufacturer. Besides... ANY mechanical device will fail and depending on the visitor traffic in your museum, you could easily go through even the most durable trackball in a year. Let's face it, people have dirt on their hands and bodies... this dirt will work it's way into the trackball and cause it to act erratically and eventually fail. Dirt (and water for the SAW) can effect the performance of a touch screen, but all you have to do to "repair" it is wipe it off. As for joysticks... they can be broken easily and unless your exhibit is a flight simulator, it's not an intuitive user interface. I have watched people of all ages walk right up to a touch screen exhibit and begin to operate it right away... people always seem to want to touch a monitor. How well they do from there depends on how well you developed your user interface and your application. As for budget considerations... get the money you need to build the exhibit right the first time or be prepared to deal with the frustration of visitor complaints and constant repair. Mark C. Vang Exhibit Technician Virginia Marine Science Museum |Please include the name of the intended 717 General Booth Boulevard |recipient in the subject so that it can be Virginia Beach, VA 23451 |properly routed @ VMSM. ex. NAME/SUBJECT (804)437-4949 office (804)437-4976 fax [log in to unmask]