Sony invents tactile panel for PDAs
Virtual buttons at your fingertips
By INQUIRER staff: 星期五 13 六月 2003, 08:35
AN LCD SCREEN THAT will let you feel and push virtual buttons is under development by the Sony Corporation, it has emerged.
A report on nikkei.net said that the firm is producing the panel as a breakthrough next generation device that may be so sophisticated it will be able to replace keyboards and certainly touch panels.
And the wire reports that the first products may appear in personal digital assistants (PDAs) by the end of the year.
The technology uses piezo effect vibrations and Sony has cracked the problem of the high voltages normally required. The piezo effect can be subtly altered to create a number of different vibratory effects, allowing humans to get the sensation that their fingers are actually touching real buttons on a screen. µ
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=9991
This is The Inquirer, so take it with as large or small a grain a salt as you find necessary. If Sony can get this to work convincingly, I would be very impressed. If they can get Stylus-to-PDA to feel like pen-to-paper instead of plastic-on-glass, that would be worth $100 in my book.
This could show up on the PSP...although I doubt it, if they want to keep costs down.
