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In the article they talk about making sections of a smartphone's screen feel different (permanently, I assume), but would it be possible to have a type of glass
by mdm_ 13y ago
In the article they talk about making sections of a smartphone's screen feel different (permanently, I assume), but would it be possible to have a type of glass where the texture of the glass can be changed quickly and repeatedly by applying some sort of magnetic/electrical field and an app could, for example, make your phone's glass feel like it has buttons, then you could switch to another app and it would feel like a different set of buttons? I'm obviously not an electrical engineer, but I'd be interested to hear more informed opinions.
- vanderZwan 13y agoYes, that is already one of many options of haptic feedback being explored actually: > A new technique that does not require actuators is called reverse-electrovibration. A weak current is sent from a device on the user through the object they are touching to the ground. The oscillating electric field around the skin on their finger tips creates a variable sensation of friction depending on the waveform, frequency, and amplitude of the signal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haptic_technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haptic_technology
- hereonbusiness 13y agoIt seems that I've got years of experience with third generation haptic technology then. If you plugin a laptop into an outlet that is not properly grounded and move your fingers across metal surfaces of the thing, one can experience it first hand. A sensation of friction, like moving your fingers over ripples because of the current running through them. This should work with a lot of electrical appliances that have metal surfaces. Not really pleasant though :)
- vanderZwan 13y agoNow that you mention it, I have that with my current laptop too! It has made me long for the days of plastic covers, something I did not think possible :).
- taejo 13y agoI thought I was just imagining that area below the keyboard on my laptop sometimes feels rougher.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- stevenrace 13y agoSimply put, glass is molecularly geometric - building actuated buttons into the glass itself isn't very probable. But a film of actuated buttons could be added much like with capacitive touch sensors today. Microfluidics is near the 100nm range today. Throw in a bit of ferrofluid and something like this is at least plausible. The challenge is in making all this transparent. The microfluidic channels would need to not create a 'screen door effect' and the fluid transparent. The Royal Society of Chemistry's 'Lab on Chip' Youtube Channel [1] is a good place to daydream about the future of such things. [1] http://www.youtube.com/user/labonachipVideos/videos http://www.youtube.com/user/labonachipVideos/videos
- reticulated 13y agoYou might also find this video [1] interesting. Although it's not clear how far this company has actually got with the technology. [1] http://vimeo.com/43431035 http://vimeo.com/43431035
- stevenrace 13y ago@1m18s you see a syringe of fluid - so it's something similar. Maybe two laser-cut capacitive films with non-conductive fluid pumped through to make static 'buttons'. Probably a better MVP than what I suggested earlier :). Thanks for the link.
- xerophtye 13y agoIf your target audience are the visually impaired, why do you need to make them transparent?
- grizzly 13y agoTotally possible Have a look at this http://tactustechnology.com/ http://tactustechnology.com/