A team of researchers from the University of Bath, UK, has invented a phone screen that can become softer or harder under pressure. The authors believe this could be used to allow users to “feel” things through their phone screen.
The new device — called DeformIO — is still a prototype, and it will take at least ten years to become available commercially, but it’s already seen as groundbreaking technology. The authors believe DeformIO will radically change how people interact with the world in fields as diverse as commerce, communications, medicine, and gaming.
For example, before making a purchase, shoppers will be able to “touch” the fabric of a new shirt or “feel” the softness of a new pillow just by touching their phone screen. The deformable screen may also change how users interact with files and apps on their devices. To delete a file, it will simply be a case of pushing on the file icon until it stiffens and eventually “pops.” “You’d be directly manipulating a digital object the way you normally would a physical one,” explained James Nash, from the University of Bath.
This is not the first deformable display, but earlier models offer a less continuous experience than DeformIO. These devices relied on a series of raised pins under the display which lowered when pressed, but this technology breaks often when users apply pressure when moving their finger.
Instead, DeformIO is made of silicone and uses pneumatics and resistive sensing (a technique that transforms physical forces into electric signals) to detect pressure. This way, users can press the screen and then run their fingers across the surface to create a natural, continuous movement.
“Our screen allows users to perceive rich tactile feedback on a soft surface,” said Nash. “It gives the same benefits as today’s glass-based screens – which allow you to control your device by moving your finger fluidly across the surface – but with the added benefit of a person being able to use force to interact with their device at a deeper level.”
The DeformIO also allows users to apply forces to multiple areas on a screen simultaneously, and the display can even distinguish between different levels of pressure applied to different locations, creating a response appropriate to the force detected.
“We hope that in 10 to 20 years time, the concepts it embodies could be in your mobile phone. For now, we’re exploring the applications it might be best suited to,” said Prof Jason Alexander, who has worked on deformable screens for the past ten years.
According to the authors, possible applications include:
- Video games: Gamers can deform the screen as they attack as well as feel the physical resistance when an opponent strikes back.
- Computer simulations for medical training: Medical student can feel structures, like a cancerous growth, that are invisible to the naked eye by palpating a screen.
- Car touchscreens to replace hard touchscreens: Deformable screens can help drivers find buttons or receive ‘physical’ information back without taking their eyes off the road.
- Remote physical contact: Two people on a video call may be able to “touch” through their screens, where one person puts pressure on their display, and the person receiving feels it on their own screen.
- Digital maps: Users may be able to toggle between street view and map view by changing the pressure exerted by a finger.
The DeformIO display was introduced at CHI 2024 – the ‘CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems’ – the leading international conference on Human-Computer Interaction.
DeformIO video explainer: https://youtu.be/w7R76tFP3n8