When Fujitsu rolled out its haptic sensory prototype tablet, it is all about touch. Simply, this tries to describe how the food tastes. The touchscreen is supposed to reflect the real feel of the displayed image, either it is smooth or rough through vibration technology.

How It Works

This is how the concept of haptic sensory works. Touchscreen or ultrasonic vibrations are released to the tablet screen with a touch. This is pulsed with various forces on any part of the screen. The oscillations push the user's finger out of the tablet surface and depending on the force, this can give various tactile feelings. Tactile sensations are then brought by ultrasonic vibrations via the friction between the user's finger and the touchscreen.

An example of which is a high- pressured air layer. It can reduce the friction and gives out a feeling that the screen surface is slippery. Another is the rapid variability of pulses giving the sensation that the screen is bumpy or rough, reflecting the displayed image.

Hands-on

With the theory of haptic sensory or tactile sensation in place, many visitors to the MWC 2014 were curious to check on Fujitsu's prototype tablet. The seemingly "illusions" of a slippery surface were actually convincing. Various textures could be present on different parts of the screen at a resolution that has several pixels with somewhat accurate simulations. Examples are clicking on a lock or volume control of a DJ app.

But there are those which are less convincing like the bumpy experience. Touching the crocodile is like moving a finger on slippery and clingy patches. It also gives unnatural buzzing sensation, which is quite disconcerting.

The "all-about-touch" of the Japanese prototype tablet is fun. It is quite difficult to imagine how could a user can get some realistic sensation of a displayed rough object from a very smooth 2D screen surface of a tablet computer.

Usage And Application

Fujitsu's prototype tablet at MWC 2014 had the visitors experience the "touchy" feeling and feel that this futuristic-sounding technology is actually on its way. The Japanese electronics giant plans to market this technology after a year.

As to how this technology could be applied varies and there are definitely many applications. Just imagine browsing on a catalog and making it possible to feel the object you are viewing is like actual shopping - a more realistic version of online shopping.