In the present paper, a touchscreen device is proposed, based on guided wave reflection and transmission induced by the presence of an object. The principle uses the advantages of other acoustic waves devices in terms of simplicity and applicability to any thin surface but is not subject to classical drawbacks (single-touch, sensitivity to scratches or contaminant, impossibility to follow motion of contact point). The theoretical interaction of guided waves with a contact impedance are first derived in order to define the requirements of the sensor in terms of frequency range, mode, sensor type and location, and embedded electronics. Design criteria and experimental validation on a small prototype (300 x 300 mm) are proposed to demonstrate the potential of the approach for simple, robust and reliable contact detection and contact pressure estimation of point-like or extended objects for consumer electronics or biomedical applications.
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