Engineering Lifestyle
Comment
Sparky_Watt
Not bad. If they can get the change time down to a half second, and the ...
WKetel
This is an interesting development indeed. I can see a mechanical pump extending ...
Buttons could morph up on mobile screens
Sylvie Barak
12/4/2012 11:43 PM EST
Now you see them, now you don’t. That’s the whole point of Tactus Technology’s new virtual physical mobile touchscreen; and if that seems like a contradiction in terms, it is. Almost.
The Fremont, Calif.-based startup has been experimenting with microfluidic panels, which can make a touchscreen more dynamic, providing "buttons" when they’re needed, and having them melt away again when they’re not.
Many mobile gripes center around the fact that texting on a touchscreen can be very difficult, with or without fat fingers. The fact is, people just like the feeling of pressing something . Companies have been experimenting with all kinds of ways to provide this tactile feedback, mostly centered around haptics. But Tactus believes it has found a more elegant solution. And when I say solution, I mean that literally, in the liquid sense.
In Tactus’ vision of the future, mobile screens will lie atop a reservoir of fluid with various micro-channels and compartments.
When the device realizes that the user needs a keypad--say when wanting to compose a note, email or text--an actuator pumps more fluid into the various channels, inflating the buttons and raising them markedly from the elastomeric display.
The user can then tap away at the raised bumps contentedly. And, when finished, the panel drains its liquid back into the sub-screen reservoir within a second.
Also, unlike haptics, which is still as sensitive to accidental touch as a regular touchscreen, Tactus’ model would require the user to apply a small amount of pressure, just like on a regular keypad.
The firm has managed to raise $6 million so far in venture funding, and is said to be working with Taiwanese touch-screen manufacturer TPK.
It’s thought the first Tactus enabled products could even make it to market in late 2013. I know a lot of people who won’t be able to wait to get their hands on it.
Related stories:
The Fremont, Calif.-based startup has been experimenting with microfluidic panels, which can make a touchscreen more dynamic, providing "buttons" when they’re needed, and having them melt away again when they’re not.
Many mobile gripes center around the fact that texting on a touchscreen can be very difficult, with or without fat fingers. The fact is, people just like the feeling of pressing something . Companies have been experimenting with all kinds of ways to provide this tactile feedback, mostly centered around haptics. But Tactus believes it has found a more elegant solution. And when I say solution, I mean that literally, in the liquid sense.
In Tactus’ vision of the future, mobile screens will lie atop a reservoir of fluid with various micro-channels and compartments.
When the device realizes that the user needs a keypad--say when wanting to compose a note, email or text--an actuator pumps more fluid into the various channels, inflating the buttons and raising them markedly from the elastomeric display.
The user can then tap away at the raised bumps contentedly. And, when finished, the panel drains its liquid back into the sub-screen reservoir within a second.
Also, unlike haptics, which is still as sensitive to accidental touch as a regular touchscreen, Tactus’ model would require the user to apply a small amount of pressure, just like on a regular keypad.
The firm has managed to raise $6 million so far in venture funding, and is said to be working with Taiwanese touch-screen manufacturer TPK.
It’s thought the first Tactus enabled products could even make it to market in late 2013. I know a lot of people who won’t be able to wait to get their hands on it.
Related stories:
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
dylan.mcgrath
12/5/2012 12:46 AM EST
That sounds like fascinating technology. It's hard to believe that this could actually be in products by next year.
Sign in to Reply
SylvieBarak
12/5/2012 1:12 AM EST
Tomorrow is only a day away.... ;)
Sign in to Reply
David Ashton
12/5/2012 6:08 PM EST
Pumps? In a mobile device? What's that going to do for the battery life??
Sign in to Reply
SylvieBarak
12/5/2012 7:47 PM EST
Apparently less than 1% of daily charge.
And once the buttons are up, zero power draw.
Sign in to Reply
prabhakar_deosthali
12/6/2012 1:22 AM EST
Bringing up the buttons by pressurizing the liquid will require some finite amount of time and today's impatient and fast young generation won't like such delays when they want to do texting.
Sign in to Reply
WKetel
12/8/2012 9:51 PM EST
This is an interesting development indeed. I can see a mechanical pump extending the buttons when a cover is opened, which would not consume any power at all. That might be the best way to make it work. But it seems that the whole system life would be much shorter, meaning the phones may not last the complete six months to their intended obsolescence, which would mean that the makers would need to shorten the warranty time a bit. And anybody who is such an impatient jerk that they can't wait a few seconds for the buttons to extend should be sent back to using a rotary dial phone.
Sign in to Reply
Sparky_Watt
12/12/2012 6:10 PM EST
Not bad. If they can get the change time down to a half second, and the reliability up to 10,000 transitions I would say they have a game changer.
Sign in to Reply