Disney developed the technology of sensing three-dimensional surfaces on smooth screens.

Disney has developed a technology that can change touchscreens forever. Imagine that you run your fingers on the glass and feel, for example, burrs on a tree.



The company's engineers have invented a method that allows the touch screen to deceive sensitive fingers and feel the real texture of the surface. The basis of the new technology is that the fingers feel obstacles on the surface when groping due to the fact that friction compresses and stretches the skin, our brain operates for the most part with this. The Disney Research system can artificially, with electric signals, simulate the stretching and squeezing of the skin, deceiving the brain and making it feel bends even on a completely flat surface.
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Electrovibrations are used in the design, creating electrostatic forces that form one or another tactile bond. The second part of the system is an algorithm that forms sensations “on the fly”, it looks like this:

1. Real-time obstacles are calculated on the virtual surface, which we render to the user;
2. Determine the angle of contact with her finger and the speed of sliding of the finger;
3. The resulting spatial model is translated into electrical signals that form a surface sensation in a person.

The technology is still in the initial stages of development, but its prospects are obviously excellent.