On Jan 5, 11:07*am, Ignoramus8343
wrote:
I purchased a desk light at Home Depot. It has an amazing featu it
is switched by touching its base. It does not have a mechanical
switch. All I have to do to turn it on, is to touch it. Very clever.

Capacitive switching was cool back even when it was crude and first
used on application like that. Now it's everywhere and growing. The
technology has taken off. It's used for a lot of electronics now
(think touch screen stuff) since unlike switches there are no moving
parts and it takes very little power to operate. I was recently
looking at a sensor system capable reading of thousands of tiny
capacitance sensors that would read your fingerprint in great detail.
That particular one is the cutting edge right now, but I'm confident
that most handheld electronics such as MP3 players use them, as well
as a lot of home appliances with glass screens and sensors underneath
the glass. They just don't wear out or care if you get it dirty.