Senseg "Feelscreen" Haptic Tech Gets A Tablet Dev Kit
One of the biggest criticisms about touchscreen displays, especially when typing, is that they are flat, literally and figuratively. The future is in haptic technology, at least for Senseg, who is now launching a developer kit, basically and outfitted Nexus 7, that will spreads its "Feelscreen" technology and idea to developers, schools, and researchers.
When mobile devices and manufacturers today talk about "haptic feedback", they basically just mean vibrating your whole device when you touch the screen at certain points, like buttons or keys. Senseg's haptics is, of course, more advanced. First, there are no moving parts to the setup, just an ultra-thin coating on the touchscreen. Second, the feedback can be "localized", that is, limited to a certain area of the screen instead of simply causing the whole device to vibrate. This can be made to fool your fingers, or your brain, that it is really felling, or bumping into, something solid or something with texture.
The goal behind this technology is more than just fancy hi-tech invention for the sake of fancy hi-tech invention. It is to reclaim what our fingers have lost in the move towards, somewhat ironically named, touch-based devices. Our fingers are naturally attuned to feeling solid form or textures, which is how the previous generation of "texters" manage to churn out words, correctly spelled or otherwise, without even glancing at their phones. Sadly, touschscreens have robbed us of that. Beyond just for faking a physical keyboard, Senseg's haptic technology can also be put to other uses, particularly for accessibility purposes.
This holy grail of true "touch" interaction still has some ways to go before it can truly be ready for consumers, but Senseg is taking the first step today. The Feelscreen Development Kit, which is a Nexus 7 with customized Senseg components and software, can be used to start exploring different applications, bugs, and uses for the haptic technology. That said, it is definitely not for mass adoption yet. The dev kit can only be obtained by requesting one from Senseg, after filling up a form, and pricing details are kept under a tight lid. Senseg is primarily looking for app developers, but educators and researchers, especially in accessibility disciplines, are also welcome to apply.