Tiny Computers Will Bend To Browse

from the changing-your-input-mindset dept

Some cool work coming out of Sony Labs in Japan, working on new input devices for smaller and smaller computers. Most of the article focuses on "bendable" computers. The idea is that you could "bend" the machine, instead of having to click a button. As computers get smaller, it will be more and more difficult to add buttons, so this is a way around that problem. They envision using it on credit card sized machines. If you look at the images and the movie included with the article you get a good feel for how it could be used. The article also mentions them working on a "tactile" touchscreen. Here, the idea is that as you push a "button" on the screen, there will be some sort of feedback to make it feel more like really pushing a button. Sounds like lots of useful innovation is headed our way for smaller and smaller computers.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 Jun 2003 @ 12:44am

    Why smaller?

    What's the point of having watches that are too small to see the numbers, keyboards that can only be pecked at with surgical instruments? Demographically, we are getting older, therefore our eyesight and dexterity is decreasing. Is Sony going to put out yet another batch of calculator watches?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 20 Jun 2003 @ 10:56am

      Re: Why smaller?

      that's a common statement made by alot of people, but if you notice the trend of gadgets shrinking, Keyboards, Computer Mice, Tablets, and most other Human Interface Devices are still the same size, watch faces are still easily read and rather large in some cases. Shrinking devices will allow us to make things like watches, keyboards, etc... 'smaller' in the sence that they will be less obtrousive, like LCD and Plasma displays are an excellent example of the shirnking of the classic CRT based Displays.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 20 Jun 2003 @ 6:21pm

        Re: Why smaller?

        Still, watches with big numbers and laptops with adequately sized keys are not easy to find. It very much feels like engineers' egos competing with each other to build a more "compact" product, and deciding what consumers want.

        link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.