Apple Patents Haptic Feedback System for Touchscreens
Touchscreens are great on a portable device such as a mobile phone or tablet, but there’s no tactile feedback at all, which causes some people dislike them and want to stick to traditional keyboards.
Apple is trying to address this by creating touch screens that provide this missing feedback. In a patent application published today, Apple has explained the concept of how the system would work, by using physical piezoelectric actuators embedded in a screen that is not completely rigid, unlike like today’s devices. Also, this idea would extend to force sensors, to allow the device to respond differently, depending on how hard the user is pressing down on a particular spot. Also, Apple’s interest in haptic devices isn’t new, since they have been filing haptics patents since at least 2010.
“The user can typically only feel the rigid surface of the touch screen, making it difficult to find icons, hyperlinks, textboxes, or other user-selectable elements that are being displayed,” Apple’s filing reads. “A touch-based user interface may help a user navigate content displayed on the display screen by incorporating haptic feedback.”
Rather than simply vibrating the device when a button is tapped, as some touchscreen devices do, Apple’s solution could utilize piezoelectric actuators for “localized haptic feedback.” This would allow the user to feel a virtual button on their fingertips.
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