InTouch

InTouch

A human machine interface (HMI) for manufacturing processes from Wonderware, a division of Invensys Systems, Inc. (www.wonderware.com). InTouch is the most widely used graphical interface for machine and process control and was the first product of the company. It pioneered the use of Windows in factory automation, offering a graphics-based alternative to the DOS and Unix command lines.

Introduced in 1989 under Windows 2.1, InTouch let operators view on-screen control panels that looked like the mechanical ones they had used for decades. In addition, on-screen animations enabled operators to monitor materials moving through a facility, pipeline or assembly line, all of which is taken for granted today. InTouch was also the first HMI product that allowed engineers to design and change complex processes without specialized computer knowledge. See HMI and Wonderware.