Carnegie Mellon researchers create touchscreen with buttons

Carnegie Mellon researchers create touchscreen with buttons
April 27, 2009

Gizmodo: A couple of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, tired of the screen vs. button debate, have decided to do away with the distinction entirely. For such an ambitious goal, the solution was extremely simple. A hard acrylic chamber, perforated with set button shapes, is surrounded by latex on both sides. A pneumatic pump pressurizes or depressurizes the central chamber, either depressing or lifting the areas above the button holes. Display duties are carried out through rear projection, and (multi)touch tracking is dealt with via finger-tracking cameras.

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