Implementing a Cost-Effective Human-Machine Interface for Home Appliances

Traditionally, human-machine interfaces (HMIs) for home appliances have been composed of mechanical devices such as buttons and knobs, coupled with display indicators such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs). Today there is a massive transformation occurring throughout the home appliance and consumer device markets. As the cost of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) drops due to the proliferation of LCD technology in televisions, computers, automobiles, and mobile devices, LCDs with highly interactive graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are now being deployed as a cost-effective replacement for the traditional "mechanical" HMIs currently found on most home appliances.

Several technologies are necessary to deliver graphical touch interactivity within the context of a home appliance. This paper explores these technologies, as well as an innovative, total solution architecture for delivering low-cost, high-performance HMIs on virtually any home appliance or consumer device.