PHYSICAL PRESENCE OF A VIRTUAL BUTTON ON A TOUCH SCREEN OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE

An apparatus providing physical presence of a virtual button on a touch screen of an electronic device. The apparatus comprises two layers. The bottom layer is a set of channels that form a matrix along x and y axes. The top layer consists of a matrix of small transparent columns. When the user interface displays an image, such as a pushbutton, the corresponding x and y coordinates that are mapped to the location of the pushbutton on the screen are inflated. The change in volume forces a subset of columns upward in the direction orthogonal to the plane of the screen. When at least one transparent column is raised, the image of the virtual button displayed on the screen takes on a physical presence when the surface of a display screen becomes raised in order to produce a sensation of touch as a finger moves across the surface.