[_Microft]

You do not even need anything special to build a capacitive pad with a Raspberry Pi Pico. Basically only an insulated pad and maybe a resistor (even though I think it is even possible to do without).

Here is an example of someone building a touch midi controller [0] with nothing more than a custom PCB and some resistors or a touch input device with varied inputs like sliders and buttons [1].

[0] https://github.com/todbot/picotouch

[1] https://github.com/todbot/picoslidertoy

[tdeck]

Using a capacitive touch controller in the dark seems like it might be pretty frustrating though.