Technology: Touchscreen With Keys That Rise and Disappear.

By this time about 2 decades ago, it is a wonder to behold the current crop of phones today, especially of the smartphone family as well as tablets. But here they are. 

Nevertheless, experts in the field of phone technology seem reluctant to berth on these today's kinda phones as efforts are still on the runway for newer technologies in phones, hence, hewing more slabs of state-of-the-art designs from the monolith of technology.

This week, Tactus Technology, a California company, while demoding Tactile Layer; (a product that uses haptics, or a touch-based interface, to make patterns or shapes rise and recede on a regular touchscreen) says it has created technology that could make keyboard keys rise out of the touchscreen on a smartphone, tablet or other device, then disappear when you are done with them.

The company says its panel, which it displayed on a prototype Android tablet at this week’s Society for Information Display showcase in Boston, is  ”the world’s first deformable tactile surface.” The layer is flat and transparent and wouldn’t add any thickness to a gadget since it would replace a layer that already exists, Tactus says.

However, devices that could benefit from the system include smartphones, tablets, e-readers, gaming devices and remote controls, the company says.  But it also has potential in automobiles, medical devices and personal navigation systems, they say.

The product is billed to be ready for use come mid-2013.