These kinds of haptic feedback devices exist and got talked about a decent amount 10-15 years ago, but mostly failed to take off for a variety of reasons (I don’t remember all the reasons, but cost, durability, and transparency were common ones). The first that comes to mind for me is Tactus Technology, which put a film over touchscreens that could dynamically form buttons as needed. I forget if that one was fluid based or electroactive polymer based, but I remember both existing. (EAPs are also used for vibration feedback and actuators, but in this case the idea is to deform them into a fixed shaped for as long as needed).
IIRC there was also a haptic feedback device company that talked about integrations with AR/VR and physics engines and physical modeling tools, so you could e.g. literally feel yourself moving around a digital workshop or other setting and move stuff around and interact with any materials present. Can’t remember the name.
I also wish someone would pick these kinds of ideas back up.
These kinds of haptic feedback devices exist and got talked about a decent amount 10-15 years ago, but mostly failed to take off for a variety of reasons (I don’t remember all the reasons, but cost, durability, and transparency were common ones). The first that comes to mind for me is Tactus Technology, which put a film over touchscreens that could dynamically form buttons as needed. I forget if that one was fluid based or electroactive polymer based, but I remember both existing. (EAPs are also used for vibration feedback and actuators, but in this case the idea is to deform them into a fixed shaped for as long as needed).
IIRC there was also a haptic feedback device company that talked about integrations with AR/VR and physics engines and physical modeling tools, so you could e.g. literally feel yourself moving around a digital workshop or other setting and move stuff around and interact with any materials present. Can’t remember the name.
I also wish someone would pick these kinds of ideas back up.