The immediate benefit is that this makes, or with a little refinement (not sure how small the tactile areas can be), touch screens properly accessible to the blind without changing anything on the software interface. That is a very good thing, as it's accessibility, but layered on top of what exists. I wonder if it can do Braille? 'Cause that would just be cool.<p>I'm not <i>really</i> in to having it for standard UI, I prefer the idea of some kind of electromagnetic field providing the haptic feedback, something a bit less.. crude? Obvious? something like that.
I wonder if the buttons can be relocated in real-time? Imagine a radio dial or fader that you could feel rotating or sliding under your fingers with resistance as it reached the end of allowed travel.<p>Pretty cool technology.