Not to be confused with Tactus Technologies Inc, another SBIR firm located in NY., Tactus Technology Inc. develops user interface technologies that improve usability of touch screen devices. The firm offers Tactile Layer, a touch screen solution for Smart Phones, netbook computers and mobile Internet devices, tablet PCs, eBooks, gaming and personal navigation devices, remote controls, medical devices, IP desktop phones, automotive displays, and industrial control and test equipment. Tactus provides a new dimension of user interface with a fundamentally unique solution: application-controlled, completely transparent physical buttons that rise up from the touch-screen surface on demand. With the buttons enabled, users can push and type or rest their fingers as they would with any physical button or keyboard. When the buttons are disabled, they recede into the screen, becoming invisible and leaving a smooth, seamless flat touch-screen with maximum viewing area. The underlying technology that enables the Tactile Layer is called microfluidics. Small fluid channels are routed throughout the Tactile Layer and enable fluid to expand the top polymer layer to create the physical buttons. A small Tactile Controller is connected to the Tactile Layer, which controls the state of the buttons. The controller is intended to be interfaced via USB, SPI or I2C to a processor. A basic API is provided to allow for integrated software/application based control.
