Tactus reveals pop-up touch-screen keyboard

Red Orbit reports.

The company showed off a prototype Android tablet that was able to provide haptic feedback to the user, using keys that appeared and disappeared.

The “keys” rise out of the touch-screen and provide a tactile feel for the user's fingers, receding back down into the touch-screen once they are no longer needed.

According to The Week, the technology uses something called a Tactile Layer, which "replaces the glass or plastic that normally sits on the touch-screen sensor and display", says Peter Murray at Singularity Hub.

The layer is only 0.75mm to 1mm thick and sits on top of another layer containing microfluid; the tablet uses pressure to "almost magically" inflate the buttons with microfluid and make them three-dimensional.

For now, the physical keys are only available in predetermined patterns - like a Qwerty keyboard - but the company eventually hopes to make different configurations available.

Because of current technological restrictions, the channels have to be built already into the hardware so that they can only raise and create a single formation - in this case, a keyboard, Into Mobile notes.

CEO and co-founder of Tactus Technology, Craig Ciesla, wants to fulfil his goal of using microfluidics to create physical shapes above the surface of the display that could be different according to how an app wants to utilise the technology.

It's been four years since Tactus started developing the technology. It's still in alpha stages, but so far it seems to have nailed customisation and power consumption; right now it only drains up to 2% of the battery for the entire day. This is still just a prototype and the company still has a long way to go before it hits the market, however.