There's so much touch technology being developed in the IT market, don't you think? All sorts of touch screens, touch phones, touch clothes... everything is touch-based. Because humans always feel the need to touch, to blend into their environment. And because touch technology is the latest trend, the market has been saturated with touch-based devices. Mitsubishi, however, wants to do something else.

Although not exactly innovative, the 3D touch panel promises to detect the distance between your finger and the touch panel, allowing for a whole new array of interesting interactive man-machine possibilities. All this with the help of an entire web of sensors that calculate the distance and speed that your finger has until it reaches the actual screen.

This in turn allows the 3D touch panel to use a “mouse – over function,” that basically makes the user control a cursor without the need to actually touch the screen. The prototype is a 5.7 VGA inch screen with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, intended to be used in mobile devices. Some work is still required, I think, because the “mouse-over” ability does not seem to be fully calibrated yet.

This kind of device would be fantastic for car users, allowing the driver to receive the information he or she needs without having to look at the GPS and lose sight of the road. It could also make playing music or watching videos on your mobile device a lot more easy and fun. However, I'm not entirely convinced that the device could allow you to control it from a reasonable distance, because the finger is a pretty thick cursor for such a small screen.


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