Nokia Patents Haptikos Technology

There hasn’t been much news regarding Nokia’s Haptikos tactile touch screen technology for a while now. Now it seems that some information regarding this technology has surfaced in a patent application. The tactile feedback will be achieved by using layers under the touchscreen to allow control of surface roughness and friction. The patent also describes a “plurality of closely space voltage controllable protruberances” which can raise or lower, based on which part of screen the user is touching, and would result in the user feeling resistance and tactile feedback.

The protruberances will be filled with fluid and increase friction to give users the impression that they’re actually touching something, rather than just a piece of glass. Currently there are no phones announced with this technology, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if it were to show up in future phones.