As convenient as touchscreens may be, there is still one fundamental flaw that every modern smartphone and tablet has failed to solve: touchscreens just aren’t capable of providing the same tactile satisfaction as keyboards. Sure there are a few phones out there with both a physical keyboard and a touchscreen, but now it looks like we might finally be able to get the best of both worlds.

California based Tactus Technology is working on an incredible new touchscreen that can physically mold buttons out of a glass-like surface as well as make them disappear when not in use. Utilizing tiny channels within the surface, a liquid is pumped into button-shaped chambers creating gel-like buttons that can appear and disappear on demand.

For more information on the Tactus Technology project, head on over to the Tactus webpage. No word on when we might see this technology reach our touchscreens, but we’re hoping its sooner rather than later. Haptic feedback can only do so much…