JDLED: towards visio-tactile displays based on electrochemical locomotion of liquid-metal Janus droplets

An actuated shape-changing interface with fast response and small pixel size using a liquid material can provide real time tangible interaction with the digital world in physical space. To this end, we demonstrate an interface that displays userdefined patterns dynamically using liquid metal droplets as programmable micro robots on a flat surface. We built a prototype using an array of embedded electrodes and a switching circuit to control the jump of the droplets from electrode to electrode. The actuation and dynamics of the droplets under the finger provides mild tactile feedback to the user. Our demo is the first to show a planar visio-tactile display using liquid metal, and is a first step to make shape-changing physical ephemeral widgets on a tabletop interface.