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Computer scientists at the University of Bath in the UK developed a touch screen that can be warped through finger pressure, becoming softer or stiffer in direct response to force applied by the user. It is called DeformIO, and while it is still a prototype it could completely change the future of touch screens and how people interact with the world in fields like commerce, communications, medicine, and gaming.
“You’d be directly manipulating a digital object the way you normally would a physical one,” explained James Nash, first author of a study describing the new technology, published this month.
Though this concept of movable touchscreens has existed before, this iteration uses silicone, pneumatics, and resistive sensing (a technique that transforms physical forces into electric signals) to detect pressure. “Our screen allows users to perceive rich tactile feedback on a soft surface,” said Nash, “It gives the same benefits as today’s glass-based screens—which allow you to control your device by moving your finger fluidly across the surface—but with the added benefit of a person being able to use force to interact with their device at a deeper level.”
This technology also allows a user to apply forces to multiple areas on a screen simultaneously, with the display being able to distinguish between levels of pressure applied, creating degrees of softness appropriate to the force detected.
According to Techxplore, the researchers hope that in 10 to 20 years the concepts could be in our mobile phones, though for now, they are exploring the applications it might be best suited to.
Examples of future uses of this technology include video games (feeling the opponent strike back during a simulated battle), medical training (feeling the screen to detect a cyst that’s invisible to the naked eye), improving car touchscreens (to prevent the driver from needing to take their eyes off the road) remote “physical contact” between people talking online, online shopping (feeling the fabric of a product before buying it) and more.
