In the future, smartphones may allow us to “feel” textures.
Mobile devices with touchscreens that render textures allow users to feel the material of what is displayed on the screen (Axios) report Monday. For example, a customer shopping online can feel the softness of a shirt in his cart, and someone looking at a photo of a dune can feel its roughness.
According to the report, engineers at Northwestern University have developed a touchscreen that allows users to experience different textures. Michael Peshkin, a professor of engineering at the university, described the technological advancement as an “inspirational touchscreen.”
“When you use your cell phone, you shouldn’t be able to see or feel anything. [just] Feel the whole device vibrate, just like when you press a key,” Peshkin told Axios.
“If you’re looking at something on your phone and it’s right in front of you, you’re naturally going to touch it and clap your hands on it. You’re like, ‘What does that feel like?'” he continued.
“We want to be able to feel it on the glass, and we can do that,” Peshkin said.
Tambus, a company founded in 2010 by Peshkin and Northwestern University collaborator J. Edward Colgate, has developed a tablet similar to Apple’s iPad that allows users to experience smooth, unshaven skin. did. Axios reports that the touchscreen allowed users to feel the stripes of corduroy fabric, sandpaper, and rocks. (Related article: Apple CEO asked why people should buy a new iPhone every year, cited sustainability)
“You can run your hands around it and feel the properties of different materials, you can grab the rotor ring, things like that,” Peshkin said.
Peshkin told Axios that Tambus’ tablets “couldn’t capture the warmth and softness,” such as the feeling of holding someone’s hand. Even though he won award Tambus closed in 2023 after running out of funding after its technology was used in a Gillette ad campaign at the 2018 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
“Whether it’s commercially worthwhile to integrate it into a phone or screen is a little difficult,” Peshkin says.
