HACKER Q&A
📣 FridayoLeary

Will we get smartphones with tactile touchscreens


I'm not a tech expert, but it seems obvious that screens that actually let you feel the image/text displayed would be huge. I want to know if you think such an idea is practical and how long it will take for them to appear on smartphones.

  👤 timonoko Accepted Answer ✓
That was one of the functions of the abandoned Nokia touchscreen project, maybe 2003. Instead of capacitance or resistance, it had pressure sensor on all 4 corners and rigid display panel. With those sensors the location and force of the finger could be accurately calculated. Likewise the panel could be moved up and down, giving the impression the finger is sliding on uneven surface.

I say one day this touchscreen technique will rise again, because it does not rely on electric properties of the "finger". You can have gloves on or use fingernails or hand prosthesis.

👤 PaulHoule
Today they print books with offset lithography which applies little or no pressure, but until the 1970s they still printed books with "letterpress" that really pressed the paper so that you can feel the presence of the letters on the paper.

I enjoy that. I bought a book at the antique mall (for $10) about the French Revolution the other day and the fact that it was letterpress was what sold me.

You could get in on the ground floor of this one. Do a patent search on tactile displays and you can find out what people have tried so far.