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The study found that just 9% of 271 respondents believe touchscreens in public spaces are hygienic, with 85% saying that touchless interfaces would be more hygienic and give them better protection.

Consumers say they expected to interact with more touchless technologies, such as gesture interfaces, with 35% saying that they would prefer touchless gesture ordering in restaurants, ahead of making orders across a counter, via a mobile app or public touchscreens.

“Touchless gesture-based interfaces are clearly preferred as a future option over touchscreens, counter service, or mobile apps,” Ultraleap president and chief executive Steve Cliffe says.

Touchless gesture-based interfaces are clearly preferred as a future option over touchscreens, counter service, or mobile apps”

“With consumers stating that the number one drawback of public touchscreens is that they are unhygienic and that the single greatest benefit of contactless is that it’s touch-free, we believe gesture control technologies will play a significant role in restoring consumer confidence in retail and other public environments in a post-Covid-19 world.”

Saurabh Gupta, director of out-of-home product at Ultraleap, adds: “When the average supermarket check-out touchscreen is used as often as 350 times a day by different consumers, it is not hard to understand how easy it is for the screen to become contaminated and also just how difficult it is to find time slots to properly clean them and to keep them sanitised.”

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Consumer concerns over touchscreen tech

UK consumers have raised concerns over the future use of touchscreens in retail, hospitality and transport environments, according to new research by natural user interface company Ultraleap.