Future Apple handhelds could potentially offer feedback when touched, a Toshiba technology demonstration hints. At this week's Embedded Systems Expo in Tokyo, the company is showing off an iPod touch with a special film on top. Based on a Finnish technology known as "Senseg E-Sense," the film helps to generate small electrical field changes that can nevertheless be felt by human fingers. Resistance can be simulated when sliding open a door, for instance, and buttons can be made to feel as if they protrude.

Toshiba is presenting an even more elaborate concept via a PC trackpad, likewise enhanced with E-Sense. Using it to move an onscreen cursor over images produces the sense of different textures, such as rough or bristly surfaces. The company argues that the film is a better option than haptic (vibration) feedback, as it is less prone to breaking, and can be adapted to curved devices.

For manufacturers the technology should cost about 11 to 22 cents per sheet, with adjustments for quantity. A number of businesses are already said to be working on enhanced tablets and e-book readers, though no names have been mentioned. These should ship in the first half of 2011; following in the second half of the year will be the first E-Sense-equipped smartphones.