A rich history of innovation
Corning Incorporated is the world leader in speciality glass and ceramics, drawing on more than 160 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge. Corning’s innovations began when the company developed a bulb-shaped glass encasement for Thomas Edison’s incandescent lamp. “The theme of using research and innovation to solve complex, everyday problems is deeply engrained in Corning’s culture,” said Dr. David Loeber, business director, Corning Large Cover Glass.
“Corning has had several innovations that transformed our world since the Edison light bulb. These include a variety of technological breakthroughs from Corning’s Optical Fiber to one of our recent innovations, Corning Gorilla Glass.”
GorillaGlass on more than 2.4 billion devices
In 2007, cell phone manufacturers challenged Corning to find a cover glass solution more damage resistant than materials such as soda-lime glass and plastic. Corning found a way to make thin, light, and durable glass for mobile devices. Currently, Gorilla Glass is on more than 2.4 billion consumer electronic devices, and the innovation does not stop there. New applications facing functional problems, such as the interactive whiteboard (IWB), are now embracing Corning Gorilla Glass.
Interactive whiteboards penetrate classroom setting
The interactive whiteboard represents a major evolution over the slate chalkboard used in classrooms of the past. The IWB allows lessons to be presented in a multi-dimensional and engaging way that benefits many learning styles. While touch proves to be a positive motivator in the classroom, it is only as effective as the device is functional. Initially, interactive whiteboard models were designed using soda-lime glass as a cover solution.
Thick soda-lime glass, when placed atop a display, creates a barrier that can hinder user interaction and touch sensitivity, and often results in user frustration when touch points fail to register. The optical clarity of the soda-lime cover is also an issue, as thicker cover solutions can dilute the native colour vibrancy of the content.
Highly engineered glass delivering extraordinary benefits
Corning Gorilla Glass, manufactured as thin as 0.55mm for large size applications such as dry-erase markerboards and interactive whiteboards, is durable and scratch resistant due to Corning’s ion exchange strengthening process. The thinness of the glass can yield an improved user experience. Thin Gorilla Glass allows closer interaction with the image and touch sensor which can improve accuracy and sensitivity, minimising user frustration.
Parallax is also reduced with thin Gorilla Glass. Thick glass alternatives have a higher degree of parallax that can hinder device performance and cause user frustration. Parallax is a misalignment of the intended touch target and the actual touch target location, which is most noticeable when interacting with a device through a thick piece of cover glass that can cause an apparent offset between the two. The thinness of Gorilla Glass helps reduce parallax.
Applications such as IWBs promote classroom collaboration, allowing multiple users to interact with the device simultaneously, and from a variety of viewpoints. “At Corning we are dedicated to using our expertise in glass science to solve our customers’ toughest problem and to continually improve glass applications,” said Dr. Loeber.
“The work we are doing within the education market is particularly exciting to me because we are finding ways to positively impact students’ ability to learn.”
