Imagine a touchscreen that can expand while a movie is
being viewed and then shrinks back to its original size when the movie is
finished, or a smartphone that bends and stretches automatically to shield the
user’s fingers while entering private data. Such devices could be on the market
in the next five years.
Generic, Highly Organic Shape-Changing Interfaces
(GHOST) technology is being developed by four European universities to let consumers
use their touchscreens as 3-D displays. Users will be able to pull objects out
of their computer screen and manipulate the information as it is suspended in
the air with a swipe of their fingers.
Deformable screens and ultrasound levitation technology
makes the GHOST research possible, according to a report from Fox News. Researchers have already developed touchscreens that
automatically change shape and ways to project data into the air. One prototype
allows users to break down bar charts into rows and columns once they have been
pulled out of the touchscreen.
“It’s not only about deforming the shape of the screen,
but also the digital object you want to manipulate, maybe even in midair,”
Kasper Hornbaek, professor at the University of Copenhagen and GHOST coordinator,
said in a statement.
“Through ultrasound levitation technology, for example, we can project the
display out of the flat screen. And thanks to deformable screens, we can plunge
our fingers into it.”
