A Touch Screen That Touches Back

A Touch Screen That Touches Back

How would you like it if whenever you touched the screen of your smart phone, tablet or television, the screen touched you back?

Haptic tech company Senseg is developing a system that does exactly that, having recently unveiled a prototype tablet that may soon revolutionize the way we interact with our devices.

Senseg calls their new project Feel Screens and says any touch interface device can deliver high-fidelity tactile sensations. For example, if you have an image of sandpaper, you would be able to feel sandpaper when touching the screen.

Feel Screens are made possible incorporating an electrostatic-field-based system that produces varying degrees of friction on different parts of the screen. This system uses an ultra-low electrical current that creates an attractive force from screen to finger. The force can be modulated to generate a variety of textured surfaces, edges, contours and vibrations.

Senseg's secret behind this technology is their Tixel, a durable, ultra-thin coating on the screen which transmits electro-vibration stimulus. The company says the Tixel can be scaled to fit almost any device and be applied to nearly any surface, flat or curved, hard or soft.

Unlike haptic technology in video game controllers, the Feel Screen has no moving parts so it's totally silent and offers immediate response.

Currently the system is only in the early stages of development, but keep an eye out for this tech to be coming to a screen near you in the next year. In the meantime, check out CNET's video of the prototype in action.
[Via GizMag]