

Physical tactile buttons for touch screen devices - leejw00t354
http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-features/63829-mobile-tactile-tech-gets-physical

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domwood
The immediate benefit is that this makes, or with a little refinement (not
sure how small the tactile areas can be), touch screens properly accessible to
the blind without changing anything on the software interface. That is a very
good thing, as it's accessibility, but layered on top of what exists. I wonder
if it can do Braille? 'Cause that would just be cool.

I'm not _really_ in to having it for standard UI, I prefer the idea of some
kind of electromagnetic field providing the haptic feedback, something a bit
less.. crude? Obvious? something like that.

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jawns
It'll be nice not only for the blind (assuming Braille or something comparable
is feasible with this technology) but for those of us who'd like to be able to
touch-type, which is tough with existing touch-screens.

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wxl
Touch-typing on any little keyboard like that is near impossible. On a normal
keyboard, you're moving multiple fingers short distances. While on a little
keyboard you're moving two fingers longer distances (key-wise, not actual
distance). This makes it much harder to touch type since it's harder to judge
where your fingers have to go.

This is at least my experience with little cellphone hard-keyboards, maybe
it's different for others.

Regardless, braille would be really cool. Assuming the screens were high
enough resolution (that is, could raise itself up accurately enough to make
small dots) to display it.

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Sunlis
I've taught myself to type without looking on my Android (holding it portrait
too, not landscape). I do rely pretty heavily on the auto-correct feature to
help prevent gibberish, though.

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domwood
I can sorta do that with the ICS keyboard, the actually half decent
predictive/auto-correct's what makes it possible.

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mmcconnell1618
I wonder if the buttons can be relocated in real-time? Imagine a radio dial or
fader that you could feel rotating or sliding under your fingers with
resistance as it reached the end of allowed travel.

Pretty cool technology.

