A patent registered to the Apple company during this day presents the plans of those from Cupertino regarding the development of a flexible screen that deforms to provide tactile feedback for users. A series of components mounted under the screen of the mobile terminals of the products Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), are used to deform the screen in order to provide tactile feedback for the use of applications, they can simulate the existence of buttons or edges for various menus.
Going further, the screen could be controlled both by touch and by the application of pressure in its various points, a multitude of concepts regarding the possible launch of such a product have been launched over time. In order to distinguish between touches and long presses, the Apple company describes a method of using electrodes to help terminals distinguish this type of interactions from each other, the technology itself being far from implementation for now.
Electronic devices may be provided that contain flexible displays and internal components. An internal component may be positioned under the flexible display. The internal component may be an output device such as a speaker that transmits sound through the flexible display or an actuator that deforms the display in a way that is sensed by a user. The internal component may also be a microphone or pressure sensor that receives sound or pressure information through the flexible display. Structural components may be used to permanently or temporarily deform the flexible display to provide tactile feedback to a user of the device.
In order to respond to touches, the Apple company could use vibrating motors or piezoelectric actuators embedded under the flexible screens, so that the user would have a completely different experience than the one offered now. Although the Apple company describes a flexible screen that deforms during use, it also presents methods by which its future iPhone, iPad or iPod Touches could be waterproof and not just water resistant.
In the end, the ideas are great, but it is unlikely that we will see such words on the market too soon.