A batman inspired app by "Yu-Chih Tung" uses sonar to bring 3D Touch to any smartphone device. The inspiration for "ForcePhone" comes from the scene in Christopher Nolan's film when Batman turns phones in Gotham City into Sonar Systems allowing for a 3D live map. This was an ah-ha moment for Yu-Chin said "I thought it was an interesting idea to turn smartphones into a solar-based system and felt this could lead to new applications to address challenges faced by smartphone users".
ForcePhone uses your phones speaker to emit a high frequency tone unheard by human ears that the microphone is still able to pick up. Pressing on the device changes the frequency which allows forcephone to sense the pressure being applied. This also allows you to apply force to any surface of your phone to interact with it. This could be game changing as it would open up an entirely new way to interface with your phone.
ForcePhone isn't quite ready for public consumption but will be demoed June 27-29 in Singapore at MobiSys.
via umich