Future Smartphones Could Let Users ‘Feel’ Textures

Smartphones may allow users to “feel” textures in the future.

Mobile devices with touchscreens rendering texture would allow users to feel the material of what they see on their screens, Axios reported Monday. For example, a customer would be able to feel the softness of a shirt in their online shopping cart, while someone looking at a photograph of a sand dune would be able to feel its roughness.

Engineers at Northwestern University developed touchscreens that allow users to feel the range of textures, according to the outlet. Michael Peshkin, a professor of engineering at the university, described the technological advancement as “a touchscreen that touches you back.”

“You should be able to feel when you are on your phone, feel things that you see — not [just] feel the whole device vibrate, the way you do now when you hit a key,” Peshkin told Axios.

“When you’re…