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A Touch Screen With Morphing Buttons

Posted by Soulskill on from the mighty-morphin-power-button dept.

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."

5 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. This fixes touchscreens by JCSoRocks · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I hate the lack of tactile feedback on touchscreens. If this really solves that problem I'd love to see it used in ATMs and self checkouts.

    --
    You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
  2. Slashdot logins are busted by Reality+Master+201 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm getting a lot of other people's accounts - including their private, unpublished emails and mod points.

    WTF?

  3. Will drain your battery in 0.3 nanoseconds by brasselv · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's just a proof of concept, ok.

    But the concept itself suffers a major limitation: any pressurized, pneumatic-based approach will consume too much power to be eligible for a portable device - where battery life is usually key.

    Not coming to your iPhone anytinme soon.

    --
    "Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong." (Oscar Wilde)
  4. Re:Full of hot air by King_TJ · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yeah... I thought the same thing - although granted, this is just "proof of concept" stage, right now.

    It's also worth considering, though, the fact that this system allows for another "button state" you don't generally have with physical buttons. You have "raised", "flat" (no air compressor running), AND "convex" where the compressor is creating a vacuum, sucking the surface inwards.

    Maybe that could be put to creative/good use?

  5. Many applications are possible by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Am I the only one who read about these buttons and immediately imagined a full-screen braille reader for visually impaired users?