A SHAPE-SHIFTING SCREEN

Who says a touch screen has to be flat? Researchers have developed a screen that is on the level—until you get your hands on it. Using a silicone screen, cameras, a projector and a few specialized motors (called linear actuators), Dhairya Dand and Rob Hemsley of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab have created a display whose topography changes in response to prods and pulls from users. Taking the visual display of data to a new level, users can pull up mountains and draw rivers onto the screen with the stroke of a finger. The researchers call it Obake, for a mythical Japanese creature that changes its shape, and they characterize the near 3-D effect as "2.5-D."