The Future of Screen-Based Keyboards: Flat Panel Haptics and Liquid Tactile Buttons

Carnegie Mellon University's Future Interfaces Group has developed flat panel haptics, a technology that could replace physical keyboards with touchscreen ones. The technology uses embedded electroosmotic pumps to create pop-up buttons that measure almost five millimeters in height with enough pressure and rigidity to make them feel solid when pressed. The long-term goal is to implement this tech at a pixel level, so that keys can be any size and shape.