(Phys.org) —What is an Obake? Two definitions have emerged; MIT inventors would enjoy close attention on the newer one. The older definition is that they are creatures in Japanese folklore that shift shapes. The second is an updated, 2013 definition, created in MIT Media Lab quarters. Obake is a highly touchable screen interface that lets you pinch, press, prod, and expand your screen. "What if our screens were elastic?" asks one of the designers, Dhairya Dand. The question that goes with that one is, are you up for a user experience beyond a flat screen? Those are the questions that result from the MIT Media Lab project on a touchscreen interface that can take users into a next-step world of tactile computing. In one of the inventor's words, they provide a new language of interaction.
