World's First "Lumpy" Tablet Makes Debut at CES 2013

The world's first "lumpy" tablet is still catching attention from tech hounds.

Last week, Tactus, a Fremont, California-based company, made its own Tactile Layer technology public debut at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2013). Their developments allow typically flat tablet screens to change into into a real keyboard with bumpy buttons. The screens on tablets and smartphones raise up and then automatically disappears after typing.

The tech company described their new screen in a press release.

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.

Tactus' chief executive Craig Ciesla says production will begin at the end of the year.

”Dynamic Tactile Layer component is the same thickness as the layer it replaces and requires no change to the underlying display or touch sensor. In addition, the size of screen, though currently demoed on a 7-inch tablet, is scalable all the way up to a TV screen, and down to a standard smartphone size. The largest that we routinely make today is 14 inches. But we’re able to make it much larger … there are no fundamental limits to its size," said Ciesla.

Are you excited?