Touch-screen phones like the iPhone may be cool, but without the tactile feedback provided by a keyboard, they force users to type slowly and lead to typing errors. Now Stephen Brewster and colleagues at the University of Glasgow in the UK say they can banish these problems by using actuators like those that make cellphones vibrate to replicate the feel of a keyboard.
Software called VibeTonz made by Immersion of San Jose, California, can get an actuator to move in different ways, such as smoothly or jerkily. Touch-screen phones made by Samsung and LG use this to provide rudimentary…
