Carnegie Mellon morphs 'pop-up buttons' onto multi-touch display

While attempts to add feedback to touchscreen displays via vibration and audible tones are laudable, these attempts are nothing by comparison to the tactile euphoria felt at the press of a well-designed button. Still, many of us are willing to sacrifice tactility in order to maximize display sizes on our pocketable or portable devices. Now researchers at Carnegie Mellon have developed touch-sensitive displays with physical buttons that "pop-out" from the surface. CM's prototypes pump air through geometric-shaped holes to create concave or convex "buttons" on a screen covered with a semi-transparent latex -- IR sensors and cameras detect finger placement while a projector cast images (like numbers and graphics) onto the display. It can even sense press-force by monitoring changes in air pressure. Sure it all sounds overly cumbersome until you see the technology demonstrated. For that you can travel to Pittsburgh to count the rivers or just hit the read link below for the video.

Read -- Video
Read -- Technology Review

[pk @ Apr 28th 2009 4:48AM]

omg awesome!!!! hope this comes out soon!

[Quantumphysics @ Apr 28th 2009 9:20AM]

If they can make this able to produce BRAILLE...these people will be billionaires.

I've imagined morphing screen computers for Blind people for a long time - we are getting closer and closer to it.

[OneLove @ Apr 28th 2009 10:25AM]

Dear, Engadget, your "Read -- Video" link has created a tear in space/time. Thank you.

[Waxwings @ Apr 28th 2009 6:47PM]

@Quantumphysics:

http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/fs/focus-product-page.asp

Dynamic Braille displays like that are used all over. Of course no one would mind them being cheaper, but they are there.

[fleek1116 @ Apr 28th 2009 4:52AM]

Really cool technology. But I feel like they lose some a lot of the flexibility of the touch screen by being bound to shapes and buttons that are cut out of the material behind the screen. But as they say they are just trying to occupy the space between the two extremes which they seem to do well.

Although you could imagine having a grid of little tiny buttons that could be inflated in combination to form shapes almost like pixels. Very cool stuff.

[Gad Get @ Apr 28th 2009 5:00AM]

This is kinda like what you're imagining, I think.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/30/sony-applies-for-tactile-pixel-haptic-touchscreen-patent/

[Bas @ Apr 28th 2009 5:13AM]

I wrote a small post on haptic feedback as well. http://dontbsquare.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/learning-from-hardware-iphone-3g-meets-400d/

[superhobo @ Apr 28th 2009 6:03AM]

Can't come soon enough.

[Paul @ Apr 28th 2009 6:13AM]

Nice concept but....

Ant mechanical device will eventual suffer failure in some form. Diaphragms perforate or split. Pumps wear out. Connecting tubes loosen or puncture. Etc.

While I would enjoy the tactile enhancement I will stick to a product with a longer functional life.

[blue balls @ Apr 29th 2009 4:10PM]

and you deffinately never want the rubber to break...

[glenskey @ Apr 28th 2009 6:37AM]

the storm should of had something like this

[omo @ Apr 28th 2009 7:02AM]

soon fart apps will feel like butts!

[slyd3z @ Apr 28th 2009 10:14AM]

Dude, you're missing the bigger picture. And that picture is of boobs.

[Jeff Snugglebutton @ Apr 28th 2009 8:04AM]

Cool, this was the concept that I proposed to the board two years ago. Glad they finally decided to do something with my $50 bucks...except the entire reason i gave up on it was that i couldn't get past the pliable outer membrane since nothing could give the same feel as glass or optical plastics yet allow the passage of the tactile layer through.

[Kinger @ Apr 28th 2009 8:48AM]

I would have dropped it for the same reason.
Not not unless they find some space-age material (actually maybe NASA has some something) that stays hard when not being used as tactile.

[thatrotierkid @ Apr 28th 2009 10:12AM]

@kinger

so...many...jokes.... XD

[captainpease @ Apr 28th 2009 11:19AM]

I imagined this phone concept whilst on a plane a couple months ago. I think it is a fantastic idea! DO IT.

[Mark @ Apr 28th 2009 11:46AM]

meh, this is way too limited. Almost defeats the purpose of a touch screen if you can only have certain preset button sizes, shapes, and positions.

[UserDoesNotExist @ Apr 28th 2009 12:06PM]

Yay, my school's in the news, and this time it's not for giving a sizable portion of their endowment to a couple of con artists! (c.f. Westridge Capital Management)

[GroovDude @ Apr 28th 2009 1:28PM]

looks like a windows mobile phone already from the first picture ^_^

[owen @ Apr 28th 2009 7:34PM]

Not trying to be stupid here but doesnt the blackberry storm Have this sort of thing, At least when I tried my friends beta one at RIM it seemed that way.

[luca @ May 6th 2009 6:14AM]

Other than buttons...I think that this could be the way for a real 3d television (well, most like a bassrelief than a real 3d), but in every way worlds better than blueray or similar non-revolutionary ideas or the funny 3d glasses. Greetings. Luca