Tech
How Scientists are Planning to Give Texture to Your Tablet's Touchscreen
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Feb 10, 2015 09:48 AM EST
Imagine if your touchscreen could touch you back. Scientists have taken a closer look at bringing texture to touchscreens and have found that under circumstances, people can feel "virtual bumps."
"Touch is so important in our real world, but it is neglected in the digital world," said J. Edward Colgate, one of the researchers, in a news release. "We want to create something that will make touch a reality for people interacting with their screens, and this work is a step in that direction."
Forces felt by the fingers as they travel along a flat surface can lead to the illusion that the surface actually contains bumps. This "virtual bump illusion" is known in the haptics field. Intrigued by this phenomenon, the scientists decided to make use of it.
"By leveraging the virtual bump illusion, we were able to design a meaningful experiment that shed light on the way the brain integrates information from multiple fingers," said Colgate. "Our big finding was 'collapse'-the idea that separate bumps felt in separate fingers are nonetheless experienced as one bump if their separation happens to match that of the fingers."
The researchers presented two virtual bumps with the use of haptic technology, with the distance between them varying across trials, to volunteers. When bump and finger spacing were identical, the volunteers said that they felt the two bumps as one.
"Our findings will help us and other researchers figure out how to design haptic technology to produce certain tactile effects," said Michael Peshkin, one of the researchers. "Haptics-giving a feel to objects-just enhances the physicality of a person's experience."
The findings reveal a bit more about what could be used on touchscreens in the future. We could eventually see screens where you can "feel" certain components.
The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
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First Posted: Feb 10, 2015 09:48 AM EST
Imagine if your touchscreen could touch you back. Scientists have taken a closer look at bringing texture to touchscreens and have found that under circumstances, people can feel "virtual bumps."
"Touch is so important in our real world, but it is neglected in the digital world," said J. Edward Colgate, one of the researchers, in a news release. "We want to create something that will make touch a reality for people interacting with their screens, and this work is a step in that direction."
Forces felt by the fingers as they travel along a flat surface can lead to the illusion that the surface actually contains bumps. This "virtual bump illusion" is known in the haptics field. Intrigued by this phenomenon, the scientists decided to make use of it.
"By leveraging the virtual bump illusion, we were able to design a meaningful experiment that shed light on the way the brain integrates information from multiple fingers," said Colgate. "Our big finding was 'collapse'-the idea that separate bumps felt in separate fingers are nonetheless experienced as one bump if their separation happens to match that of the fingers."
The researchers presented two virtual bumps with the use of haptic technology, with the distance between them varying across trials, to volunteers. When bump and finger spacing were identical, the volunteers said that they felt the two bumps as one.
"Our findings will help us and other researchers figure out how to design haptic technology to produce certain tactile effects," said Michael Peshkin, one of the researchers. "Haptics-giving a feel to objects-just enhances the physicality of a person's experience."
The findings reveal a bit more about what could be used on touchscreens in the future. We could eventually see screens where you can "feel" certain components.
The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone