A Touch Screen With Morphing Buttons

Al writes "Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created a touch screen that can also produce physical buttons. Graduate student Chris Harrison and professor Scott Hudson use a projector and infrared sensor below the screen to illuminate it and make it touch-sensitive, and the physical buttons are created using air pumps below the surface. They say this type of screen could be particularly useful when a simple, flat touch-screen is too distracting, for example in a vehicle dashboard."

Comments

Full of hot air

[BurzumNazgul]

If you read the article this isn't nearly as impressive as it sounds. The buttons are in a static configuration and need an air compressor to rise. They're going to need to come up with a more flexible method of tactile feedback if they want to create a useful technology. Back to the drawing board!