Have you ever had such an experience, when typing or playing games on a phone or tablet, you always feel that the virtual buttons on the screen are not sensitive enough, not as convenient as a physical keyboard or handle? If there is a screen that can change into raised buttons at any time according to your needs, don’t you think it’s amazing? It’s not science fiction, but a new type of display technology created by researchers Craig Shultz and Chris Harrison of the Future Interface Group (FIG) at Carnegie Mellon University.
This technology is called “Flat Panel Haptics”, which can stack a layer of embedded electroosmotic pump (EEOP) that can be filled with liquid under the OLED screen, and the screen part can be filled with liquid as needed, so that the screen surface The bumps have different shapes at different locations, and the bumps can be as much as 1.5mm, enough to feel the difference. In this way, a new tactile dimension can be added to various applications, such as pop-up media control buttons, keyboards and virtual gamepads, so that you can feel the presence of physical buttons when you touch the screen. It takes about a second to fill each area and feels solid to the touch, the research team said.
It is noticed that this technology is not the first innovation to try to deform the screen. There have been similar concepts before, such as the lifting touch screen keyboard from Tactus, but it can only be made into a thick iPad mini protection in the end. set. The FIG prototype can take on more diverse and dynamic shapes and sizes, and the research team says their version is thinner, lighter and more flexible than previous attempts. “The main advantage of this approach is that the entire mechanical system exists in a compact and thin form factor,” FIG said in a demonstration video.
Currently, the technology is still in the prototype stage, and there are certain shape and size limitations to the raised buttons that can be produced, making them less versatile. But if the same principle can be applied to a layer with more and smaller raised buttons in the future, it could open up new possibilities for user interaction, including easier on-screen typing, gaming, car controls, and even accessibility features. , such as Braille on the screen.
It is still unknown when this technology will be put into commercial use, but it undoubtedly brings a new experience to the touch screen, so that our fingertips no longer just slide and click on the plane, but can feel the touch of the screen.
