• Design Jobs
  • Firms
  • Awards
  • Conference
e

Core77

Sign In / Join Now;
e
  • Topics
    • Product Design
    • Process
    • Technology
    • Lifestyle
    • Business
    • Materials
    • News
    • Furniture
    • Tools
    • Transportation
    • Education
    • Footwear
    • Impact
    • Reference
    • Video
  • Features
    • Features
    • Yo! C77 Sketch
    • Photo Galleries
    • Bizarre Inventions
    • Design Calendar
    • Weekly Maker's Roundup
    • DiResta's Cut
    • Industrial Design Tips
    • Hand Tool School
    • Tools & Craft
    • Design Experience that Matters
  • Shopping Guide
  • Projects
    • Projects
    • Firm Projects
    • Reader Projects
  • Forums
    • Forums
    • General Discussion
    • Students & Schools
    • Design Employment
    • Sketching
    • Software & Technology
    • All Forums
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • About
    • Contact
    • Advertise

Physical interface design: CMU's inflatable buttons will be a game-changer

By Rain Noe - Jul 21, 2009

  • Join Core77 Today
  • Submit your projects for publication
  • }Favorite This
  • Y1
  • m1
  • U1
  • X1
  • H1

When it comes to designing a physical interface, you've got a big choice to make: Go the Blackberry route and spec out proper buttons, which offer tactility but are fixed, or go the iPhone route and opt for a touchscreen, which can display an infinite amount of menus but offer zero tactility.

That choice may soon become moot, thanks to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the novel screen they have produced. Made from latex, portions of the screen can be "pumped up" or "sucked in" using an air pump to create physical buttons. It has to be seen to be believed:

How rad is that? And if they are able to get the buttons smaller, it should be a relatively easy matter to write software that will translate visual text into Braille, opening up touchscreens for use by the visually impaired.

via popular mechanics

The latest design news, jobs & events.
Straight to you every other week.

Join over 300,000 designers who stay up-to-date with the Core77 newsletter...

Subscribe

Test it out; it only takes a single click to unsubscribe

  • }Favorite This
  • Y1
  • m1
  • U1
  • X1
  • H1
  • Tech

Rain Noe

Rain Noe is a writer and industrial designer based in New York City.

Comments

Core77's Design Directory

View all Design Firms »

Hot On Coroflot

Candela Tables Jorge Diego Etienne
Nerf - MEGA: Tri-Break Matty Devin Brown

Recent Posts

  • How a Ukrainian NGO is Improving Post-Soviet Children's Hospitals Through Design

    By Mariia Lozhko - 13 hours ago

  • Steven M. Johnson's Bizarre Invention #179: Socioeconomic-Class-Based Dining

    By Steven Johnson - 15 hours ago

  • Good Design: Ten Examples of Great UX

    By Rain Noe - 17 hours ago

  • Ford (Yes, the Car Company) Invents a Conveyor-Belt-Based Bed for Couples

    By Rain Noe - 17 hours ago

Continued Reading
  • Technology

    By Mark Vanderbeeken - Jul 17, 2009

    The Future of Le Livre?

    Leave it to the French to give us such a civilized vision of how the physical book and electronic book might someday coexist. While today we are being asked to choose between e-books we download online and physical books we might buy after a delightful conversation with our local bookseller,...

  • Technology

    By Rain Noe - Jul 15, 2009

    Canon pushes Augmented Reality tech to smoothen the product design process

    The new AR, or Augmented Reality technology doesn't look terribly different from the Virtual Reality tech that fizzed out in the '90s, but developer Canon is touting it to be useful in the realm of product design. Their bulky, spatially-aware AR headset--more like a fascia, really, that requires both hands--can...

  • Technology

    By al dean - Jul 15, 2009

    3D CAD News and Tips

    Weekly finds from the 3D world While Carl's off on his well earned vacation, here's the first of my weekly for you guys and gals. Enjoy. Alias Hefty tutorial showing the modelling and rendering of a knife Another tutorial showing the modelling of some sweet, vaguely familiar forms Alibre New Beta for Alibre 12.0 goes...

  • Technology

    By Core Jr - Jul 09, 2009

    This Just Inbox: Paper Circuit Business Cards from Sparkle Labs

    As you know, we love clever business cards here at Core77 (see here and here), so we wanted to make sure that you saw Sparkle Lab's brilliant Paper Circuit Business Cards, packaged with all the parts you need to create a tiny circuit by following the printed placement diagram....

K

{

Welcome

  • YSign In with Facebook
  • mSign In with Twitter
  • USign In with Linkedin
OR
  • jSign In with Core77 Account
  1. Forgot password?
  • Cancel

Don't have an account? Join Now

K

{

Welcome

Create a Core77 Account

  • YJoin Now with Facebook
  • mJoin Now with Twitter
  • UJoin Now with Linkedin
OR
  • jJoin Now with Email
  • Cancel

Already have an account? Sign In

By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use

K

Reset Password

Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.

  • Cancel
Today On the Core77 Network...
  • ]Design Jobs

    • Industrial Design Director

      Enlisted Design Oakland, California
    • Senior Level Industrial Designer

      True Brands Seattle, Washington
    • Outdoor Product Design and Development Non-Tenure Track Professional Practice Assistant Professor

      Utah State University Logan, Utah
    • Outdoor Product Design and Development Non-Tenure Track Professional Practice Assistant Professor

      Utah State University Moab, Utah
    • Post A Job
    • View All Jobs
  • ]Design Directory

    View other design services:

    • *Hot On Coroflot

      • Jumpstart Charging Systems

        Ryan Paul
      • Beverage Dispenser

        Jonathan Smith
    •  

      • ET TOY WORK

        Rurik Tyler
      • ECCO Biom Venture TR

        Ventsislav Nikolov
    • © 2019 Core77, Inc. All rights reserved.
    • Terms
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • About
    • )
    • m
    • Y
    • '
    • S
    • © 2019 Core77, Inc. All rights reserved.
    Advertise Here