Future smartphones may feature inflatable keyboards on OLED displays

[ad_1]

Is it possible to leave the touchscreen alone and put a physical keyboard on a smartphone? The Future Interfaces Group (FIG) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) seems to think so. A researcher recently demonstrated that such a keyboard could exist via inflatable buttons on his OLED screen.

This type of technology is called flat panel haptics, Worked at CMU for the past 15 years (opens in new tab)A new breakthrough is that FIG was able to develop a 5mm-thick flat panel haptic board by developing an implantable electro-osmotic pump (EEOP). According to the demo video (opens in new tab), EEOPs can manipulate special pumping fluids by passing an electric current through them. The pump sits between this liquid reservoir at the bottom and a flexible surface at the top. When electricity is applied to the stack, the pump can inflate the rigid button on top to 5mm high.

FIG published a paper (opens in new tab) Explaining the technology in detail, the group revealed that they used soft silicon as the top layer of their first prototype. It seems flexible enough to convert to a keyboard.button can reveal ‘ [themselves] sink in if needed [they’re] no. ” FIG was also able to repurpose EEOP for other uses, such as popping and popping the app icon whenever there is a pending notification. You could even create a large button on the alarm snooze bar. They can also be animated or left to ‘inflate until pressed’.

real application

Inflatable keyboards aren’t just cool, they have real-world potential. First, the keyboard can provide physical indicators of on-screen content, along with assistance from AI assistants like Siri, to help blind people use the best phones better. (however, Siri is lagging). Additionally, haptic feedback can lead to more immersive mobile games as players can receive physical feedback via buttons. Experience tells us that digital controls are no better than physical ones.

But would phone companies be interested in an inflatable button? Hard to say. As far back as 2008, blackberry storm The touchscreen also acted as a physical button. This feature was widely criticized in initial reviews for making writing texts more difficult than it should be. Since then, mobile phone makers have avoided physical buttons on touchscreens like the plague, but FIG’s flat panel haptics could change that attitude. The device will have a full keyboard instead of one big button.

As you can imagine, FIG still has a lot of work to do. In this paper, the researchers recognize some limitations, such as the erratic durability of these buttons and how much power it takes to do them all. So a tablet might be a better fit. We have to wait and see.

Speaking of tablets, check out TechRadar’s latest roundup. iPad deals for April 2023.

[ad_2]

Source link