Kyocera demoed a new touchscreen panel for mobile devices at CEATEC Japan that simulates the feeling of touching a physical button.
Called the “New Sensation Touch Panel”,it apparently uses piezoelectric elements embedded between the LCD and touch panels. When the user’s finger touches a given spot on the screen, the piezo elements sense the pressure and vibrate, which gives the user the sense that they’re touching a physical button.
The elements can reportedly simulate a button click; pressing a soft mechanical button; a half- and full-press of a shutter button; and more, by varying vibration frequency and modulation. Multitouch vibrations aren’t possible at this time.
Kyocera isn’t the only firm working on this type of screen but they are one of the few to take it to a trade show. Having haptic capabilities would really help all of us who would like to send texts and emails without keeping ours eyes glued to the screen.
