During the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) User Interface Software and Technology Symposium, Microsoft Research announced its new FlexSense project, a technology said to incorporate “tactile, malleable electronics”. The concept involves using a flat, bendable plastic cover that can expose or hinder the visibility between layers. You know how certain editing programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, let you work on a section of a project by manipulating separate layers? FlexSense allows you to show and hide elements in a similar manner simply by peeling the transparent layer back.

While demoing the project on a Microsoft Surface Pro 3, several instances of using FlexSense prove the concept to be potentially beneficial for things to come. The film, containing piezoelectric sensors, essentially makes up a transparent digital piece of paper. Preliminary examples include using the film to show or hide a photo, as well as peeling back the layer to peek at answers to a crossword puzzle. According to The Verge, more exciting ideas would involve using FlexSense in digital key frame animation, where animators could lift and draw each individual frame; or even “medical situations where doctors need to quickly assess X-ray images alongside their data”.

FlexSense is unlike Microsoft's usual efforts to win the love of consumers by releasing super interactive devices, such as the Xbox Kinect. The project is more on a specific needs basis. It's hard to tell how much customer appeal with be gained from a simple idea such as peeling back film, unless you're really into cheating on your crosswords. Its biggest potential, however, is how many devices this could be applied to and how. Flexing the film can be compared to using gesture controls, and when you think about it, “the next generation of smart covers or even projector-based educational tools could use this tech” (Geek).

As the name ensues, FlexSense belongs to Microsoft's Research sphere, and it is unlikely we will see this in the hands of consumers any time soon. However, attempts at making interactive covers for its Surface tablets is a project the company continues to develop. Surface Blades, a concept revealed by Microsoft last year, was another cool idea where sensor-embedded covers could transform the devices keyboard area into a music pad. I think they're on to something, and I bet we will hear more of this technique in the years to come.