Instead, itis a a thin component that fits over top of the touchscreensalready on smartphones and tablets. The smartphone keyboard is back. The company boasts that this is the"world's first" such technology to provide thisnext-generation feature. This is something far better and more futuristicthan we could have imagined. Thebuttons recede into the surface and become invisible when they areno longer needed. No, RIM hasn't released anew BlackBerry. The Tactus Tactile Layer is not itself a touchscreen. . At the SID Display Week in Boston today, flammable marine gas detector Tactus Technology unveiled its new tactile touchscreen technology, which allowphysical buttons to rise up, or disappear from the screeninstantaneously. The company expects it to arrive in awide range of gadgets, from smartphones and tablets, to remotecontrols, gaming devices, and even medical technology.

"When triggered, the thin layer deforms and buttons or shapesof a specific height, size and firmness appear on the surface ofthe screen," writes Tactus in a press release . Tactus says the Tactile Layer,which must be installed and optimized by device makers, is thinenough that it does not add any noticable girth to a smartphone ortablet. A small internal controller then increased theamount of pressure in certain portions of the Tactile Layer'sliquid, causing them to rise into buttons of whatever shape." Tactus also announced a partnership with Touch Revolution, a unitof TPK Holding Co.

The buttons can take nearly any shape, whichTactus says will allow device manufacturers to create gadgets withentirely new form factors. "Users can feel, press down and interact with thesephysical buttons just like they would use keys on a keyboard., which is the largest manufacturer of capacitivetouchscreens in the world. The 1 mm-thick Tactile Layer contains tiny channels that contain anon-toxic fluid.Tactus Technology has created a new touchscreen layer that allowsphysical buttons to appear or disappear instantaneously