Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) recently unveiled its success at developing a haptic display with a touch panel function. Information is shown to users by forming both characters and images on the display using protrusions and recesses made by minute pins. The latest working prototype comes with an optical touch panel function which is smart enough to detect the current finger position, and the display can output information audibly via Braille or even guide the users to select the next operation. This is a positive development since prototypes developed in the date have not managed to sufficiently detect the positions touched by a finger, and this new display lets users select a button even while reading Braille. It’ll take a fair bit of time before this technological advance will be commercialized though.
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