Researchers at Disney have taken the touchscreen experience to the next level by creating a textured screen that allows viewers to feel videos and images. To simulate that friction, the Disney team uses a conductive display in which the electrostatic forces between the finger and the glass can be modulated by applying more or less […]
Researchers at Disney have taken the touchscreen experience to the next level by creating a textured screen that allows viewers to feel videos and images.
To simulate that friction, the Disney team uses a conductive display in which the electrostatic forces between the finger and the glass can be modulated by applying more or less voltage to the screen.
An algorithm developed by Disney Research can be used on touch devices such as desktops, mobile phones and tablets, to simulate 3D features on screen including ridges, edges, protrusions and texture.
The virtual bumps are mapped in a way that controls the friction a user feels as their finger slides across the otherwise smooth flat-screen surface.
Examples of how the technology has been harnessed include users interacting with fossilised bones, a bunch of apples, a map of a mountain, a video stream of a swimming jellyfish, and the contours of a kettle.
View sample below:
According to project leader Ali Israr, traditional haptic feedback systems draw on a library of pre-programmed effects that are individually brought into play as needed. By contrast, the Disney algorithm customizes the amount of friction “on the fly,” allowing it to operate quickly enough that it can be used even with moving video.
That speed could potentially also allow for real-time tactile images to be obtained through portable depth-sensing cameras, letting visually-impaired users “feel” objects in front of them.
Tech company Senseg is developing a similar system.
Back In July, Microsoft announced it was working on a similar system, with a touchscreen that lets users manipulate and even ‘feel’ 3D objects, using haptic technology. The project, called Actuated 3-D Display with Haptic Feedback, controls how much resistance there is to a user’s fingertip to simulate the shape and weight of objects shown on screen.
