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This story is from the category Sensors
Date posted: 11/04/2010 Any high schooler sneaking a text message in class can confirm that fingering the right buttons on a cell phone is a cinch, even if it's hidden in your pocket. But how about on a glass touch screen? By next year, these might feel like QWERTY keyboards, too. A Sunnyvale, Calif., company called Artificial Muscle says its thin plastic "muscle" can push a glass screen ever so slightly, nudging back on a texting finger to create the sensation of typing on a real keyboard. If the tactile feedback is realistic enough, the technology could add momentum behind touch-screen devices in a market where keyboard phones like the BlackBerry are struggling to keep customers from switching. Here's how the muscle works: When you tap a phone lined with artificial muscle under the glass, an electric zap commands the muscle to flatten by a couple tenths of a millimeter, or about the thickness of a business card. With an inaudible "click," the glass pushes back like a physical keyboard does. However, the entire screen moves, not just the spot that's touched. "Touch screens have taken away the sense of touch," said Artificial Muscle co-founder Marcus Rosenthal. Most of his friends have BlackBerrys because they can type faster, but if touch screens felt like keyboards, he thinks they'd switch. See the full Story via external site: www.physorg.com Most recent stories in this category (Sensors): 01/05/2013: Breath study brings roadside drug testing closer |
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