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Technology with a personal touch | Technology with a personal touch |
(2 days later) | |
By Michael Fitzpatrick Tokyo, Japan Touch screen has proved popular - but how about a computer that touches back? | By Michael Fitzpatrick Tokyo, Japan Touch screen has proved popular - but how about a computer that touches back? |
When Aldous Huxley described the 'Feelies' of his 1930s satire Brave New World he envisaged a world in which touch would be exploited by the technology of the future as much as vision. How wrong he was. | When Aldous Huxley described the 'Feelies' of his 1930s satire Brave New World he envisaged a world in which touch would be exploited by the technology of the future as much as vision. How wrong he was. |
Of all the senses, touch has been somewhat neglected as a human means of interacting with machines. | |
Haptics - which could lead to people interacting with virtual objects using a sense of touch or feel - means to change all that. Labs around the world are now racing to close the gap while the first commercial applications are hitting the market. | Haptics - which could lead to people interacting with virtual objects using a sense of touch or feel - means to change all that. Labs around the world are now racing to close the gap while the first commercial applications are hitting the market. |
For the first time people will be actually be able to have a virtual feel of some of the images that are placed before them. | For the first time people will be actually be able to have a virtual feel of some of the images that are placed before them. |
Keeping in touch | Keeping in touch |
A leading advocate of haptics is Russian scientist Dr Ivan Poupyrev, now a senior researcher at Disney Research Labs in Pittsburgh. He claims this area is going to be "huge", particularly for hand-held devices. | |
"We don't do enough with touch," said Dr Poupyrev. | "We don't do enough with touch," said Dr Poupyrev. |
"The basic goal of the technology we are developing at Disney is to create a perception of texture - to let people 'feel' objects on screen by stroking them with their fingers. | "The basic goal of the technology we are developing at Disney is to create a perception of texture - to let people 'feel' objects on screen by stroking them with their fingers. |
"We do this by applying a high voltage to a transparent electrode on the glass plate - in this case people will feel a texture on the glass. By varying the frequency and amplitude of the signal we can create different sensations." | "We do this by applying a high voltage to a transparent electrode on the glass plate - in this case people will feel a texture on the glass. By varying the frequency and amplitude of the signal we can create different sensations." |
The results can recreate the feeling of paper or a textile, simulate the smoothness of glass and even the roughness of sand paper. | The results can recreate the feeling of paper or a textile, simulate the smoothness of glass and even the roughness of sand paper. |
This work follows on from Dr Poupyrev's earlier research at the Sony labs in Tokyo. The scientist and his team came up with a prototype touch screen for a mobile phone that added a sense of touch in the form of tactile feedback. | This work follows on from Dr Poupyrev's earlier research at the Sony labs in Tokyo. The scientist and his team came up with a prototype touch screen for a mobile phone that added a sense of touch in the form of tactile feedback. |
"With devices getting smaller and increasingly mobile, I thought it was time we exploited our sense of touch," he said. | "With devices getting smaller and increasingly mobile, I thought it was time we exploited our sense of touch," he said. |
"For a start we wanted to create what had never been achieved before - a touch screen that really responded back when you touched it." | "For a start we wanted to create what had never been achieved before - a touch screen that really responded back when you touched it." |
Dubbed "TouchEngine", tactile feedback is achieved using tiny bendable strips of crystals known as actuators placed under a thin LCD screen that pulsate slightly when the screen is touched. | Dubbed "TouchEngine", tactile feedback is achieved using tiny bendable strips of crystals known as actuators placed under a thin LCD screen that pulsate slightly when the screen is touched. |
It eventually led to a touch panel that generates tactile feedback and also detects the amount of pressure applied to the panel. | It eventually led to a touch panel that generates tactile feedback and also detects the amount of pressure applied to the panel. |
If, for example, someone were to apply more pressure to the screen displaying an icon the speed of switching between icons would intensify. | If, for example, someone were to apply more pressure to the screen displaying an icon the speed of switching between icons would intensify. |
Bendable tech | Bendable tech |
However, being able to feel feedback though the fingertips from a hand-held screen was just the start. | However, being able to feel feedback though the fingertips from a hand-held screen was just the start. |
Ivan Poupyrev also teamed up with designers Carsten Schwesig and Eijiro Mori to develop a bendable credit-card-sized device nicknamed Gummi. The card is activated by the bending motion. | Ivan Poupyrev also teamed up with designers Carsten Schwesig and Eijiro Mori to develop a bendable credit-card-sized device nicknamed Gummi. The card is activated by the bending motion. |
The prototype Gummi uses bendable organic light-emitting display (OLED) technology. Sony claims to have created the world's most flexible OLED so far - so thin and flexible that the colour display can be rolled around a pencil while streaming video. | The prototype Gummi uses bendable organic light-emitting display (OLED) technology. Sony claims to have created the world's most flexible OLED so far - so thin and flexible that the colour display can be rolled around a pencil while streaming video. |
Maps or photo albums could be made from the bendable media cards | Maps or photo albums could be made from the bendable media cards |
Flexible electronic paper is already on the market in the form of e-readers. | Flexible electronic paper is already on the market in the form of e-readers. |
LG Display plans to launch mass-production of an 11.5-inch (29cm) flexible e-paper display "in the near future". The market for more paper-like displays will be substantial according to market researcher DisplaySearch. | LG Display plans to launch mass-production of an 11.5-inch (29cm) flexible e-paper display "in the near future". The market for more paper-like displays will be substantial according to market researcher DisplaySearch. |
Combining haptics with these bendable electronics could give rise to a whole new generation of flexible devices, said Dr Poupyrev. | Combining haptics with these bendable electronics could give rise to a whole new generation of flexible devices, said Dr Poupyrev. |
"[E-reader manufacturer] Plastic Logic has an e-reader where all the driving electronics are built out of plastic transistors. Potentially, it could allow for the creation of a completely flexible device." | "[E-reader manufacturer] Plastic Logic has an e-reader where all the driving electronics are built out of plastic transistors. Potentially, it could allow for the creation of a completely flexible device." |
The results could resemble the very malleable Gummi. | The results could resemble the very malleable Gummi. |
"Users can control the amount of bending very accurately," said Carsten Schwesig. | "Users can control the amount of bending very accurately," said Carsten Schwesig. |
"The Gummi GUI contains intuitive bending controls for tasks that exploit this fact, such as zooming in and out of a map, controlling the playback speed of media files and controlling the composition of image layers. | "The Gummi GUI contains intuitive bending controls for tasks that exploit this fact, such as zooming in and out of a map, controlling the playback speed of media files and controlling the composition of image layers. |
"More information can be displayed on the small screen in the absence of buttons or additional menu hierarchies." | "More information can be displayed on the small screen in the absence of buttons or additional menu hierarchies." |
'Next level' | 'Next level' |
There are already some touch feedback devices in the shops, including Samsung's Haptic phone with its vibrating screen that makes a tick motion when the screen is touched, confirming that it has understood the user's command. | There are already some touch feedback devices in the shops, including Samsung's Haptic phone with its vibrating screen that makes a tick motion when the screen is touched, confirming that it has understood the user's command. |
Toshiba recently demoed its "New Sensation UI Solution," which uses E-sense technology from Finnish company Senseg. | Toshiba recently demoed its "New Sensation UI Solution," which uses E-sense technology from Finnish company Senseg. |
E-Sense can produce localised tactile feedback by controlling the electric charge on a film affixed to the touch-panel. | E-Sense can produce localised tactile feedback by controlling the electric charge on a film affixed to the touch-panel. |
It means users can feel different sensations such as touching wood, metal and soft materials, says Toshiba. | It means users can feel different sensations such as touching wood, metal and soft materials, says Toshiba. |
Technologies such as these could take touchscreen technology - such as that used in Apple's iPad - to the "next level", according to Dr Poupyrev. | Technologies such as these could take touchscreen technology - such as that used in Apple's iPad - to the "next level", according to Dr Poupyrev. |
"iPad allows people to touch virtual objects as though they were real," he said | "iPad allows people to touch virtual objects as though they were real," he said |
"Flexibility should take a further step and let people feel them, stretch them, bend them and have them react to these interactions," he said. | "Flexibility should take a further step and let people feel them, stretch them, bend them and have them react to these interactions," he said. |
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