14 DAY TRIAL // Most people and scientists doubt that true interactive displays can be achieved, so they're holding their breath for when holography becomes a reality.
There are still some who think it's possible to make displays that actually let you touch what they're showing on screen though.
In fact, a YouTube video has surfaced that shows a new technology that Microsoft Research came up with.
Essentially, it is a robotic touchscreen that, in a way of speaking, touches you back whenever you touch it.
Or rather, it simulates the feel of whatever it is on screen that you are touching. The man in the video plays around with some cubes and a virtual inflatable ball.
We should clarify that the screen doesn't actually do anything. It's not some new, incredible type of form-shifting panel.
Instead, it is placed on a robotic frame of sorts, a frame that moves back and forth whenever you touch the screen and exert pressure.
No longer do you have to wear big, ugly gloves or finger-mounted accessories to feel like you're touching the things on the screen, rather than the screen itself.
The robotic mount moves the screen faster when “touching” a liquid or something soft. By comparison, it will provide more resistance when handling solid objects, like the cubes we have mentioned.
Microsoft doesn't have any plans for the technology yet, sadly. It's not really shocking, given that it's in very early stages and it isn't likely that consumers will want something so odd-looking and, frankly, an unnecessary addition to their PCs, monitors or TVs. They can already be expensive even without something aesthetically-challenged.
As soon as some retouches are made though, the idea might actually gather some Steam. If nothing else, the idea could be incorporated in games like Piano Hero, or other things that need rapid-fire finger action.
