In collaboration with Nokia Re- search and Bristol University, researchers from Lancaster have built a prototype 3D display which tilts depending on the shape of objects on the screen.
The pioneering technology could represent the future of 3D TV, as well as offering exciting possibilities for future methods of interacting with touch-screen devices.
Dr Jason Alexander, who helped build the prototype, said: “To me, this is where touch screen technology is going. There is nothing tactile about our current screens, they are flat and uniform which means you have to look at the screen in order to interact with it.
“Tilt displays are a completely new area of human computer interaction, perhaps we won’t see products in the shops for another 20 years but one of the reasons we are doing this research is to explore and demonstrate the potential these screens have and to explain to material scientists why it would be worth investing time and money in this area.
“Ultimately you can imagine the kind of effect you would get if each pixel of the screen on your mobile phone, tablet or television was a small square which could move independently of the pixels around it. Maps would come to life in 3D, buttons could appear at your fingertips, characters could rise up from the screen and even photographs would become more like the 3D objects they depict in real life.
“The potential applications are numerous, these examples are just the tip of the iceberg.”
