Categories: Meme

The future of touchscreens will change how we see the world

The Astonishing Tribe's logo

Have you heard of The Astonishing Tribe? No? Well you’ve probably used their technology several times this week. And you are going to be using it a lot more in the future.

Smartphones are expected to be one of the bestselling presents this Christmas but this current slate of state-of-the-art technology is still in its infancy. Touchscreen devices have critical usability issues which prevent thousands of people from adopting the technology. Faced with these challenge The Astonishing Tribe (TAT @tatmobileui) released the results of their Open Innovation Experiment, a project that challenged designers and developers to imagine what touchscreen technology will be like in the near future (circa 2014).

The results of the experiment are astonishing, TAT predict the development of mallable screens, hyper-location aware devices and, perhaps most importantly, steroscopic (3D screens) touch screen technology (as will be included in Nintendo’s new DS system). Speaking about the results TAT said,

We will soon have dual screens, malleable screens, screens built into wifi connected mirrors, desks or backside of gadgets clothed with e-ink screens, tactile feedback, color screens with great contrast in sunlight, holographics/stereoscopic screens, color e-ink touch screens, or screens actually knowing where they are in relation to other screens thanks to ultrasonic emitters and microphones.

The Astonishing Tribe are a usability and interface design company from Sweden who’s interface technologies are now used in over 470 milion digital devices around the world. This TAT technology was included in 20% of all touchphones shipped globally.

They work with some of the worlds largest technology companies such as Google, Sony Ericsson, Volvo, PayPal, Asus, Fujitsu and Samsung so, fingers crossed, we will see this tech soon.

Ajit Jain

Ajit Jain is marketing and sales head at Octal Info Solution, a leading iPhone app development company and offering platform to hire Android app developers for your own app development project. He is available to connect on Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

View Comments

  • Wow, talk about ubiquity! They want information to be in sight at all times. I like how they are changing touch screens to be more social. It's natural to want to share things physically, and it feels like they are bringing what's fun about sharing on Twitter and Facebook to devices all over. I'm excited to see if these predictions become reality.

    • @JennaLanger The things I just saw in that video are mind blowing. I hope that technology is created, implemented, and mainstream far sooner than later. Not only does it look cool (it reminded me of Tony Stark's in-home underground lab in the new "Iron Man" movies...awesome), but as an avid gamer, I can't help to think what video games of the future could do with that technology. Awesome stuff.

    • @JennaLanger Me too, what is amazing is that much of the technology seems possible. There is nothing in there that seems to be science finction - except for the mallable screen.
      Suddenly my Android seems very old...

    • @jmatthicks @JennaLanger Ha, I didnt thinkg of that but it does look like Stark's pad. What is exciting is that TAT work with some large names, so if the tech is possible it could well be implimented. It will be interesting to see what Nintendo does with their steroscopic DS screens

    • @pdscott I'm already a huge fan of Nintendo, the Wii to be specific, so I can't wait to see what happens with the DS as well.

    • @jmatthicks @pdscott I didnt mention it in the article but TAT were bought out by RIM on Thursday last, so we might see some of this tech soon. Only three months to the 3DS's release, at lease for yourselves - we wil probably have to wait a while longer in Ireland - bit I cant wait to get my hands on it.

Recent Posts

Ethical Imperatives: Should We Embrace AI?

Five years ago, Frank Chen posed a question that has stuck with me every day…

2 days ago

The Tech Company Brief by HackerNoon: A Clash with the Mainstream Media

What happens when the world's richest man gets caught in the crosshairs of one of…

2 days ago

New Synop app provides Managed Access Charging functionality to EV fleets

As companies that operate large vehicle fleets make the switch to electric vehicles (EVs), a…

4 days ago

‘Predictive government’ is key to ‘govtech utopia’: Saudi official to IMF

A predictive government utopia would be a dystopian nightmare for constitutional republics: perspective Predictive government…

4 days ago

Nilekani, Carstens propose digital ID, CBDC-powered ‘Finternet’ to be ‘the future financial system’: BIS report

The finternet will merge into digital public infrastructure where anonymity is abolished, money is programmable…

1 week ago

Upwork’s Mystery Suspensions: Why Are High-Earning Clients Affected?

After more than ten years on Elance / oDesk / Upwork, I dare to say…

1 week ago