ICS Insight Blog

Informed Opinions and Industry Insight on Tech, UX and Product Development

Connecting tech leaders with insight to move the needle, and developers and designers with inspiration to build really cool touchscreen-driven stuff people will love.

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New Qt 6 Bindings Deliver Increased Performance and Code Reliability

Test run Qt 6's newly added binding functionality by following this simple example.

Qt

How to Use FreeRTOS on a Variety of Platforms

Embedded systems are increasingly using MCUs, even to drive a user interface. Knowing how to develop for these platforms is an in-demand skill.

RTOS, embedded systems

How to Create a Qt/CMake Project that Easily Supports Unit Testing

Unit testing is becoming an essential part of the software implementation process.

Qt

GPIO Programming: Exploring the libgpiod Library

Here's a look at a GPIO library available on Linux that has become more widely supported on platforms like the Raspberry Pi.

embedded systems, Linux

A Closer Look at FreeRTOS

Explore key features, supported platforms, licensing and cost of FreeRTOS, a real-time operating system for microcontrollers and small microprocessors.

RTOS, Embedded

Nearing the Finish Line with Project RED’s Low-Cost Ventilator

With this important project nearly complete, we're making final updates to decrease the possibility of use error to improve patient safety.

medical device, UX Design

Get Familiar with FreeRTOS

FreeRTOS is a real-time operating system kernel for embedded devices primarily targeted at microcontrollers.

RTOS, embedded systems

Are You Ready for Qt 6?

Qt 6.0.0 will be available soon. Should you make the move? Try the latest pre-release, available from Qt's online installer.

Qt

Do My Eyes Deceive Me? Hardware Impacts Perception of Color

We perceive colors differently from screen to screen. That means testing on target hardware is critical.

UX Design, designing for embedded

It’s Time to Fix Scientific Software

Wider embrace of UX can make it easier for those working in life sciences to more quickly bring new therapies to market.

medical device, UX Design

Developing Safe Medical Devices Means Following These Principles

Medical device safety standards have elevated. Device makers should follow these principles.

medical device

KDE Akademy 2020 Brings Together Open Source Community

Check out some of the highlights from the annual developers conference.

Qt, QML

Creating QML Controls From Scratch: Keyboard

In the final installment in our series, we implement an English-only Keyboard.

QML, Qt

Creating QML Controls From Scratch: PieChart

PieChart is a Canvas that makes heavy use of the Context2D API to draw pie slices, callout lines and text.

QML

Mobile Apps Help Consumers Avoid COVID-19-Contaminated Public Touchscreens 

As consumers avoid touching public devices, here’s how to provide contact-less access to your products.

touchscreen, User Experience

Creating QML Controls From Scratch: LineChart

Here's how to create a LineChart using Canvas.

QML

Here's What's Up in the Raspberry Pi Ecosystem

Raspberry Pi's popularity continues to grow, with 30 million units shipped by the end of 2019.

Raspberry Pi

Creating QML Controls From Scratch: BarChart

Here's a simple way to write a custom autoscaled chart.

Qt, QML

Quickly Generate a Maintainable and Evolving Application with GreenHouse by ICS

Writing a new application? Want to best the competition? Try this.

GreenHouse

High-Fidelity Prototypes are Essential When Designing Embedded and IoT User Experiences

Hi-fidelity prototypes shrink risk and lead to better outcomes.

UX Design, rapid prototyping

ICS Works with Non-Profits to Develop Low-Cost Ventilators

NEW! We're now working on a second ventilator to fight COVID-19 globally.

Open Source, medical device, Qt

Creating QML Controls From Scratch: DatePicker

DatePicker allows the user to select any year, month or day.

QML, Qt

Creating QML Controls From Scratch: TimePicker

TimePicker lets you select hours, minutes and am/pm.

QML, Qt

How GreenHouse by ICS Benefits User Experience Designers

Solutions to the most common UX-related problems on any embedded project.

GreenHouse, UX design team

New in Qt 5.15: Moving Files to the Trash in a Portable Way

This handy new feature in Qt will make your desktop application more user friendly.

Qt

Abstraction Layer Addresses Interdependencies

Provide an abstraction layer to replace external dependencies with mock implementation.

GreenHouse, embedded systems

Don’t Touch! COVID-19 Gives Voice and Gesture UIs New Relevance

Medical device makers should explore touchless interfaces more aggressively than ever.

Voice Recognition, gesture interface

Lose the Ewww: How to Clean Customer-Facing Touchscreens to Reduce COVID-19 Risk

Are touchscreen kiosks and POS touchpads safe to use during a pandemic?

touchscreen