Embedded goes touchie feelie

Users often complain that touchscreens are more difficult to use than physical buttons because of the lack of tactile feedback. Designers have responded with audio and visual clues but these alone do not match the positive feel of a mechanical pushbutton. Immersion offers designers a new alternative with their TouchSense system that promises to transform conventional, passive touchscreens into active displays with graphical buttons that press and release like pushbuttons. The TouchSense system supplies fast tactile response synchronized with sound and graphical image changes and does not affect touchscreen functionality. It can be added to flat touchscreen sizes up to about 6 inches diagonal and applied to most touchscreen sensing technologies including capacitive, resistive, surface acoustic wave, and infrared. The physical movement is provided by a small electromechanical actuator, like the vibrator found in mobile phones, controlled from a tactile “effect” library.