FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Design

The Touchscreen Is No Longer Flat: Tactus Creates Dynamic Texture On Glass Surfaces

This revolutionary innovation addresses our need for physical interaction with onscreen functions.

Tactus Technology Introduction from Tactus Technology Inc. on Vimeo.

With the ubiquity of touchscreen devices, you sometimes hear the rumblings of discontent from people bemoaning the loss of tactile interfaces. They like their keyboards to extend into three dimensional space. And while it might not be a major issue for everyone, touchscreen keyboards aren’t the easiest, or most intuitive, to use.

Addressing this frustration with the lack of texture is a new interface from Tactus Technology called Tactile Layer™. In this new interface, transparent physical buttons rise from the touchscreen when you want, like little contact lenses. Then when you’ve finished with them, they recede, disappearing from whence they came and leaving you with a flat screen once again.

While it may look like magic, it actually uses microfluidic technology which enables the bubble-like buttons to rise and fall. The technology can not only be used on smartphones, but with gaming devices, eBook readers, tablets, and more. It should be available starting next year.

@stewart23rd