HAFAS-Touch ... timetable information for kiosk terminals with touch-sensitive screens

HAFAS-Touch is a HAFAS client software with a special user interface particularly created for touch screen based kiosk systems. This client especially serves the purpose of architecture, functionality, ergonomics, design and layout modifications, integration, system management and extensibility. Screenshots in a standard layout you can find here.

Architecture

HAFAS-Touch perfectly suits the other members of the HAFAS product family because it is based on the same HAFAS server like HAFAS-Internet or HAFAS-Intranet. Depending on the configuration all HAFAS clients can access the same physical HAFAS server and utilise the same central data base.
The HAFAS-Touch client software is implemented in the JAVA programming language and communicates via TCP/IP protocol with the HAFAS server. So no particular client data or client software distribution is necessary. For standalone kiosk systems server and client can optionally run locally on the same kiosk terminal, loosing the advantage of a centrally maintained data base.

Features

HAFAS-Touch offers an essential set of functions tailored to the requirements of kiosk systems and their typical users:

• Choice of origin and destination station
• Choice of arrival or departure date and time (pre-set with current date and time)
• Choice of transport modes or means of transport
• Optional choice of pass-through ("via") stations
• Presentation of the found journeys in three levels of detail ("Overview", "Details", "Journey Guide")
• Display earlier/later journeys with a single on-screen button tip without having to re-enter any journey parameters
• Search for the return journey with a single on-screen button tip
• Full multi-language capability in the user interface and printouts. The user can select a language as desired.
• Screen reset automatically time controlled as well as user controlled with a single on-screen button tip.
• Own on-screen keyboard, optimised for input of station or stop names, points of interest or other locations
• Optionally integration and visualisation of real time information
• Optionally integration and visualisation of fare information
• Optionally printout of journey information

Ergonomics

Ergonomics played a major role during the design of the HAFAS-Touch user interface.
HAFAS-Touch considers in particular:

• The missing input devices like hardware keyboard or hardware mouse/trackball
• The specific characteristics of touch screen usage with human fingers instead of mouse or trackball usage
• It cannot be assumed that the typical users have any knowledge about PC usage or common user interface standards
• Small dimensions of touch screen displays (e.g. 10" TFT monitors)

HAFAS-Touch offers an extraordinarily clearly and straightforward designed user interface through a series of full-screen dialogues. All screens have a continuous layout using recurring elements. Large buttons make it easily accessible even on small sized displays.

Input of Location Names

The input of start, destination or via locations on the kiosk system is of paramount importance for the accessability of the whole system. Standard HAFAS-Touch provides a station/stop input by means of free text input through an on-screen keyboard. Even fuzzy phrases or partial, incomplete or misspelled words are allowed. The user is allowed to enter everything he knows and the following search in the overall set of names utilises an extremely powerful, error-tolerant and fast text based search technology. This name search technology is used in all HAFAS versions, e.g. in the Internet or Intranet versions, too. With it, even a search for POIs or special locations is possible. An address based search for locations can be integrated as well. If it is not possible to uniquely find a station, stop or POI from the user's input or partial input, a selection of the most similar names is displayed from which the user can choose.

Design and layout modifications

Screenshots in a standard layout you can find here.
The standard layout of HAFAS-Touch is one possible design layout of the user interface. Other customer specific graphic designs are possible. HAFAS-Touch was recreated from scratch to provide an easy way to customise graphic layout, colour schemes, logos, design elements etc. This way an appealing and modern as well as CI/CD compliant Look&Feel can be easily delivered.

Integration

HAFAS-Touch was developed on the basis of commonly used Internet technology. The possibility to be able to integrate it into any other browser based kiosk system was one of the major objectives for HAFAS-Touch. With the choice of implementation technologies and architecture HAFAS-Touch can be easily and seamlessly integrated into other browser based information systems.

System Management

HAFAS-Touch is logging user actions and input on request and can send a report about these periodically to a central logging server. This way all information about user reactions, user interface problems or similar can be analysed. Through the central logging server it is also possible to collect status information (e.g. paper jam or out-of-paper signals from the connected printers).

Further information about HAFAS-Touch can be found here.

Since 1996 there is a Touchscreen edition as a pure offline version. You can find some information about HAFAS-Touch Classic here.

If you are interested in a customised version, please feel free to contact us.