Touch and go!
What makes a watch respond to the lightest touch? Tactile technology. Time n Style finds out more.

In the year 2000, the world witnessed the birth of a precision instrument. Called the T-Touch, the watch boasts of a tactile technology that enables it to respond to the lightest human touch. The star here is tactile glass, which allows for touch screen activation. The watch offers the wearer, in addition to time and date, six distinctive functions activated by the watch glass: meteo, altimeter, chronometer, compass, alarm and thermometer.

The technology for the watch came from ASULAB, the R&D arm of the Swatch group. And how Tissot came to incorporate it into its watches makes for an interesting story. Even as the technology was in its early stages, it was introduced to all the brands. Francois Thiébaud, president of Tissot and member of the executive management board of the Swatch group, saw great potential in the idea and agreed to sponsor the rest of the development of the product. Although the watch was first showcased at the Basel fair in 2000, it took some years to complete the roll-out around the world. It has since updated the model with new versions and materials.

More on tactile technology
On the inner side of the sapphire watch crystal are seven electrically conducting but transparent electrodes, one for each function. These are connected to the micro-controller. When the central crown of the watch is pressed, the micro-controller starts measuring the electric capacity of all the seven sensor pads with respect to the environment. Touching the watch glass in the region of one of the sensor pads changes the electrical capacity of the pad. This acts as the input signal for the micro-controller, which then takes the appropriate action.

Functions

Thermo: The precise outside temperature is shown on the LCD display. In Celsius, or Fahrenheit.
Alarm: Easy-to-use 24-hour alarm with audio signal.
Compass: Indication of the geographic north by using the magnetic north and the adjustable east and west declination.
Meteo: Or the barometer function. Shows the meteorological changes with the hands and absolute atmospheric pressure on the LCD.
Altimeter: Adjustable indication of the elevation above sea level in feet or metres.
Chrono: Timings with ADD and SPLIT functions at a precision of 1/100 of a second.

The many faces of tactile technology

T-Touch Titanium
The watch is robust, yet lightweight, and warm and silky to the touch. The use of titanium makes the watch highly resistant to corrosion and temperature changes. The T-Touch sports a trendy black dial and fluorescent hour indicators and hands and is available with a sporty black rubber strap or titanium link bracelet.

Silen-T
As the name suggests, the Silen-T uses the latest in tactile technology to tell the time through silent vibration. Simply press briefly on the crown, then run the finger clockwise around the glass and you will feel the time through constant vibration on the hour, and intermittent vibrations for the minutes (corresponding to one of the twelve raised indices on the bezel). The watch also comes with a silent vibrating alarm, which can be activated through an action on the crown and an anti-clockwise movement on the screen. You can choose from black, white and silver dials and between stainless steel bracelet or black strap in techno leather for better water resistance.

T-Touch Orange
Has all the features of a T-Touch and more. This third generation T-Touch watch catches your attention with a bright new colour - orange. With an orange rubber strap and fluorescent orange indices and hands, this sizzler of a watch is simply not to be missed.

The tactile technology will also feature in the Navigator 3000 and T-Touch Spirit watches - both of which are to be launched at the end of the year.