Later today Apple will unveil their new iPad, and just hours before the official announcement Pocket-lint says that the new iPad 3 (or iPad HD) will have tactile display that can imitate different surface structures – for example sand paper.

Update: The answer is no. The new iPad has been unveiled without a tactile display.

Tactile display in new iPad?
A tactile – or haptic – display can imitate different surface structures. Just hours before the official announcement of the new iPad, one of the leading companies in the area of tactile screens, Senseg, hints that something could be coming, and says; 

- "We won't be making any statements until after Apple's announcement," according to a spokesperson who was contacted by Pocket-lint.


A tactile screen imitates different surface structures

A tactile screen can imitate different touch feedbacks through the tactile system. The technology produces varying degrees of friction, and Senseg imagines that developers can utilize the technology for games, maps and more. It is based on an electrostatic field-based technology and has no actual moving parts inside, unlike some of the first tactile systems.

Senseg spoke to CNET back in december 2011 where Senseg proclaimed that we would see tablets with tactile screens “within 1 year”. Senseg also said that they were discussing the technology with tablet makers. Could this take the touch technology in Apple’s iPad to the next level? If the text on the invitation, “We have something you really have to see. And touch.” is taken into account, it could be interpreted that way, sure.


Will the new iPad have a tactile display?

See this video demonstration of tactile display technology in action.


We will be able to answer the question later today at 10:00 AM PT when Apple enters the stage in San Francisco. FlatpanelsHD will take a look at the screen technologies in the new iPad after the unveiling. A
new Apple TV box is also expected. Check into FlatpanelsHD later today for more information.

- Sources: Pocket-lint & The Guardian