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'Backtouch' UI Design, Yea or Nay?

By Rain Noe - March 14, 2013

in UX

Way back in '07, we learned Apple had patented touchscreens with interactive backs, meaning you could perform on-screen manipulations while keeping your finger out of the way. By 2010 we were calling it "backtouch" and (incorrectly) predicting the iPad would have it. Now that we'd given up hope on this UI technology ever hitting the market, Google is bringing our hopes up once more (even though we're afraid to love again).

Patent Bolt has announced that Google has patented "Simple backside device touch controls":

We thought the whole point of a patent was that they're not awarded to duplicate technologies, but apparently there's something in Google's secret sauce that makes it different. From a user standpoint though, the benefits appear the same: You tap the back of your phone or tablet, and that registers a hit on-screen, enabling you to manipulate apps or perhaps type.

We're curious as to how ergonomically sound this is, as the opposable thumbs my dog always complains about not having seem more agile than the fingers we'd use to access the back of a device. I just picked up my phone and spent a few minutes pretending to type on the back versus actually typing on the front, and while the former feels a little awkward, I already suck at the latter. (One sure benefit though, backtouch would leave less fingerprints on the glass.) Try it yourself, assuming you're not out in public and don't want to look like a tool, and let us know if you think backtouch has got legs.

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bob

11 years ago

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I love the idea of integrated backtouch- especially for navigating 3d- imagine pinching front and back with thumb and index , and then sliding your index finger to tumble- I feel this can allow even more intuitive controls
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christianius

11 years ago

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Tried pretending, myself, and it would seem that it might be possible to learn a rapid 3-finger touch-typing technique, holding your phone by the thumb and pinky while typing with index, middle and ring fingers. Ergonomically sound, I'd say ..
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Al

11 years ago

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How did you guys completely miss the PS Vita? Gaming devices have design, too. Either way, it has a back touch panel already and is on the market. It's especially useful on the Vita since the user's thumbs are spoken for on the front side of the device, devoted to the analog thumbsticks.

This kind of thing is a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, a device with a back touch panel is going to be pickier about how it is held, and it's also going to mean that user-accessible backplates to change batteries are going away for good. That said, a back touch panel works well with how human proprioception works.
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