Smartphone users can now ‘feel’ images and objects seen on their
touchscreen!
In a competition-changing innovation, engineers at Disney
Research, Pittsburgh, have developed a new technique that allows you to feel
the texture of objects seen on a flat touchscreen.
The novel algorithm enables a individual downhill a finger
across a topographic map displayed on a touchscreen to feel the bumps and
curves of hills and valleys, despite the screen’s smooth surface.
The skill is based on the actuality that when a person slides a
finger over a real physical bump, he perceives the bump largely because lateral
friction forces stretch and compress skin on the sliding finger.
By varying the resistance encountered as a person’s fingertip
glides across a surface, the Disney algorithm can create a perception of a 3D
bump on a touch surface.
The method can be used to reproduce the think of a wide variety
of objects and textures.
