Image Courtesy: India Today
In an interesting development, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) has developed a new touchscreen technology enabling users to feel the textures of objects on the display. Current touchscreens can only sense the position of one’s fingers, but offer no feedback.
It has been named ‘iTad’ (interactive Touch Active Display), and it can mimic textures such as crisp edges and gritty surfaces.
In a statement, IIT-M said, “When we add feedback, interaction with computers becomes experiential. iTad is unlike anything in the market today because it combines multi-touch sensing with haptics on the same layer.”
There are no moving parts in iTad. Instead, an in-built multi-touch sensor detects finger movement and the surface friction is adjusted via software. By controlling electric fields via a physical phenomenon known as ‘electroadhesion,’ the software modulates friction locally as fingers travel across a smooth plane.
Prof. M Manivannan, Department of Applied mechanics, IIT-M who led this research says, “This is the era of iTad. The technology can take the online shopping experience to the next level. We can touch and feel things before purchasing them on e-commerce platforms. Around 30 per cent returns in online shopping are due to the mismatch between user experience and expectations.”
Taking to Apparel Resources, he said that it may take one year to commercialise this technology. “We are in touch with few industries and working on commercial aspects.” He further added that if apparel industry comes forward, specific prototype can be developed.
Merkel Haptics, a start-up incubated at the IIT-M Research Park, has been working with Touchlab to take the technology forward.
“The prototype from Touchlab can be made into a product in a year. Our aim is to make a small device, similar to a computer mouse, on everyone’s desk to add to the experience. We have been field testing and providing valuable feedback to the researchers at IIT-M on improving the functionality of the technology,” says PV Padmapriya, CEO, Merkel Haptics.
