Bringing Tactile Feedback to Touch Screens

Even though Apple has developed a way for touch screen devices to be accessible to the blind, some non-sighted and sighted people still miss having tactile feedback. I've recently come across two solutions for this problem. One is something you put on your IPhone, and the other is an emerging technology that could be used with any touch screen interface.

For Iphone users that either don't like typing without a physical keyboard, or for those that have figured how, but still don't like it, there is now a solution. 4iThumbs is a new product that gives you tactile feedback when you're typing. The device is also a screen protector, and when you need to have full access to your screen you simply pop the 4iThumbs off and put it on the back of your phone. The ridges on the outside guide your thumbs while you're typing. 4iThumbs comes in portrait or landscape models. The best part is the price, only $15-$20. If anyone has tried this product please let me know what you think of it.

For those of us who don't have an Iphone, or are still waiting for touch screen to give real tactile feedback, then I'm happy to say there's hope on the horizon. Two professors at Carnegie Mellon have created a system that uses pneumatics to turn touch screen buttons into physical buttons. According to this article, "The technology consists of a flexible surface area with a hard backing that acts as a mask for the button shapes.  An air chamber behind the backing can be pressurized or depressurized using pneumatic technology, in this case fan-based pumps.
When positive pressure is applied, the buttons pop out.  When the pressure is neutral, the screen is flat.  When negative pressure is applied, the buttons pop inwards. Images are displayed on the surface using a projector behind the device, turning the surface into a display screen.  Button presses are detected using an infra-red camera pointed at the front of the screen that detects reflections of light from a fingernail.  When your fingernail gets close to the screen, a button press is recorded.  This technology cannot easily distinguish between a finger touching the screen and one merely close to the screen, so a press is not recorded until the finger presses down on the surface and causes a detectable change in pressure in the air chamber."

At this point the technology has some pretty big limitations, but it seems like this could be something we find in our cell phones and other touch screen devices someday.

How much more likely would you be to purchase a touch screen device if you knew it could provide you with tactile feedback?