You probably already know that, in my book, OLED screens are the displays of the future. But I recently came across something extremely interesting. Namely the Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display, a new type developed by the University of Tokyo. The Airborne Ultrasound Tactic display is a lot more than a holographic 3D screen that you can interact with to a level that was previously deemed as science fiction.

The device consists of a concave mirror onto which the actual image is displayed by an LCD projector. By means of an acoustic radiation pressure generator, the display creates the illusion of physical contact between the user and the 3D objects around which the user moves his or her hand. While it might not look like much now, the fact that you can actually feel raindrops hitting your hand is not to be taken lightly. Remember that old tune? “Raindrops keep falling on my head... they keep falling…” well, now, they really are.

Virtual raindrops will be hitting your hand and you will feel it. You will feel the texture of an object, be able to move a ball from one edge to the other and so on. I know what you're thinking: won't the ultrasound system interfere with the displayed image? Nope, it seems that is not the case.

By creating different pressure fields inside the actual area onto which the holographic image is displayed, when the user interacts, 99.9 percent of the actual acoustic energy is “thrown” onto the hand because of the interference caused by the nasty palm that dared stop the nice image from displaying.

Since the actual principles that make this doohickey work are a bit too complicated even for yours truly, the explanation above will have to do. If you want to find out more, watch the video. Trust me, my friends, it is well worth it.




We are just a few, but there are many of you, Softpedia users, out there. That's why we thought it would be a good idea to create an email address for you to help us a little in finding gadgets we missed. Interesting links are bound to be posted with recognition going mainly to those who submit. The address is .