Basic Research on New Touchscreen Technology

Jülich, 4 December 2018 – In future, users will be able to not just see but also feel objects on their touchscreens. A number of companies have already developed such prototypes. An international team led by Jülich physicist Bo Persson has now presented a substantially simplified method to theoretically describe interaction with these haptic touchscreens. Before now, it was not possible to calculate the forces at play between the human finger and the screen, even using the most powerful supercomputers available. Based on their new model, the researchers have developed a proposal for screen designs that enable improved tactile sensation. Their findings have been published in the journal PNAS.

Original publication: Contact mechanics between the human finger and a touchscreen under electroadhesion, Mehmet Ayyildiz, Michele Scaraggi, Omer Sirind, Cagatay Basdogan, and Bo N.J. Persson,
PNAS, November 2018
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1811750115

Contacts:

Dr. Bo Persson
Peter Grünberg Institute, Quantum Theory of Materials (PGI-1)
Forschungszentrum Jülich
Tel.: +49 (0)2461 61-5143
E-Mail: b.persson@fz-juelich.de

Press contact:

Dr. Regine Panknin
Corporate Communications
Forschungszentrum Jülich
Tel.: +49 (0)2461 61-9051
E-Mail: r.panknin@fz-juelich.de