Touch screens allow you to touch anything on the screen, but what you’re touching is only a flat screen. If the object you touch has a height, the user interface will be dramatically changed. You can feel an object (half) reproduced on a flexible surface. Even if it’s not rendered fully in 3D, the feedback you get will be completely different from touch screens. So I came up with a concept called the FiiL.
Not a fake slider on a flat screen, but a realistic toggle switch can be used. Hopefully that click feeling can be realized too.
Buttons are now real buttons that you can feel the height of. You also feel the pressure when you push it.
Not leveled ground can be instantly scanned and rendered on the screen, which must be helpful for visually disabled people. Outdoor signage can also be instantly scanned and the braille is created on the screen.
In the physical world, you always get this type of physical feedback. So if we really want a user interface that can be truly intuitively understood, why not make it tangible?
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It’s also known as ‘haptics’ – and Disney are already working on a prototype version: http://www.livescience.com/11228-touch-screens-touch-feeling-future.html