NEW TACTILE TOUCH TECHNOLOGY FOR MULTI-FINGER LOCALIZED INTERACTION SHOWCASE AT FALL EXHIBITION
For immediate use October 1, 2014
NLT Technologies, Ltd.
Unique tactile touch display enables multiple users to individually feel the texture of the image they touch.
KAWASAKI, JAPAN, Oct. 1, 2014 ---NLT Technologies showcases an LCD prototype with a unique tactile touch technology at exhibitions in Japan and Germany this fall. This technology recreates the sense of tactile texture to the users by using electric vibrations and reproduces skin sensations as if they are tracing actual objects on the display.
This technology was unveiled as the world’s first tactile display using the beat phenomenon of voltage waveforms between electrodes at the Society for Information Display (SID) this year.
The display provides texture via skin sensation when the user traces the surface of the display where the image is shown. If multiple fingers touch the display at the same time, the digits on the area where the image is shown can feel the appropriate texture, but the digits on the area without the image will not feel the texture. This enables users to identify which area on a display the image is shown, not only visually, but also through tactile feel.
The stimulus can be localized in conjunction with the image object, enabling each finger to sense its own stimulus, so the display can accommodate multi-finger or multi-person tactile interaction with visual information.
In addition to the stimulus to the fingers, NLT has added new visual effects to the prototype to be showcased this fall by switching the displayed images when users trace the images that provide a more realistic touch feeling.
A conventional tactile touch system (e.g., smartphones) presents the same sensation over the entire surface so that all fingers coming into contact with the surface experience the same sensation. In contrast, the new NLT tactile touch technology provides regional stimulation, which is provided by electrostatic force. The electrostatic force is generated by the beat phenomenon in a region where excited X electrodes cross excited Y electrodes, which presents tactile sensation to the users. The tactile touch technology applied to the panel provides multi-finger interaction.
The display arranges multiple electrodes horizontally (X) and vertically (Y) on the glass panel and applies voltage with different frequencies to each X and Y electrode located on the image area. Electrostatic force corresponding to the difference in the frequencies occurs at the electrodes’ cross point. When user traces on the surface, friction variation, modulated by the electrostatic force, occurs. The display uses this friction variation to provide the tactile sensation. The friction variation does not occur at the areas without images, so it is possible to localize the region to be stimulated and achieve the multi-finger function. This tactile technology with the matrix electrodes arrangement consists of a relatively small number of electrodes, enabling the display to be higher in density and larger in size.
Touchscreens are a vital interface for today’s information technology devices. The tactile display offers a new user experience, such as improving the usability and realistic sensation of the display, or enabling sharing of the "feeling" among users via the internet. The regional stimulation feature can be useful in many applications, including smart devices, cockpit displays in autos and aircraft to prevent the driver or pilot from being visually distracted, and in devices for the visually impaired.
NLT Technologies continues to promote research and development of multi-finger tactile displays and to open up new application possibilities, such as smart devices and industrial applications and navigation systems with more intuitive and interactive operation.
The prototype of the LCD module will be showcased at CEATEC Japan 2014, October 7–11, and electronica 2014 in Germany, November 11–14.
* Tactile technology – a technology that reproduces various skin sensations people perceive when they touch the actual objects.
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