They might have seemed like a novelty at first, but tablets have shown their usefulness in just about every industry and in countless applications. But something has always been missing from the touchscreen tablet experience: haptic feedback that lets you feel more physically connected with the tool you’re using. The Modulares Interface gives you that physical sense of control.

Interaction Designer Florian Born‘s project gives users a tangible physical connection to their iPads through a series of knobs, sliders, and buttons. The Modulares Interface consists of three parts: a frame to hold the iPad, a set of modular controllers, and the app that conveys your movements to the corresponding software as commands. The controllers contain magnets to snap securely to the frame, and they’re conductive so they send electrical signals to the touchscreen just like human fingers would.

When your iPad is in the frame, you can arrange the controller modules in any way you like. When it’s all set up, it looks like a genuine old-fashioned sound board. While it looks ideal for music composing, mixing, and arranging, the project would theoretically be compatible with all kinds of tablet functions. Don’t look for the Modulares Interface on store shelves anytime soon, however – it’s a student project and the creator doesn’t have any intent to produce it commercially.

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For people who always want the newest technology, the old models usually get chucked out as soon as the next big thing comes along. In an effort to reduce e-waste and generally make using computers more awesome, Hong Kong-based company Gowin Technology created a device that turns standard computer screens into touchscreens.

The Zmartframe Touch PC fits over an existing monitor and is attached via straps around the back. It works with 19″, 22″, or 24″ Windows monitors, connecting via USB and calibrating with a Windows-based program that has users touch certain spots on the screen. The device has an impressive response time of 8 ms so there’s no maddening delay when you type or tap using the device’s two-point touch system.

Although it is designed to work on Windows systems, the Zmartframe Touch PC also comes equipped with an Android Mode. When set to Android Mode, plugged into a power source, and connected via HDMI, the monitor becomes a standalone Android tablet – albeit a very large, not-so-portable one.

We love the idea of reducing e-waste, but we aren’t sure just how large a market the product will have. There aren’t too many folks still using desktop PCs, and those who do aren’t likely to be so eager to hold onto them that they’ll spend $130-$300 (some of the funding levels on the product’s IndieGoGo campaign) to hold onto them. Still, the Zmartframe Touch PC is a pretty cool idea that could make usable computers out of the old LCD and LED monitors you might have lying around.

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Lego building blocks are moving into the virtual world with a new series of building sets called Lego Fusion. The sets let you build in the real world and then interact and play with your creations in a virtual setting via a tablet app. There are currently four sets in the series: Create and Race, Town Master, Battle Towers, and Resort Designer.

The fun begins with a piece called a Fusion Capture Plate and a building facade – or in the case of Create and Race, a racecar. There are no instructions for building these structures; you can design them however you like (with a couple of small requirements like a door or wheels) and then use the app to “capture” your creation. In the app, your two-dimensional building front or racecar becomes a 3D interactive structure.

Once your building or car is recreated in the app, you can add on to it, create a town around it, and play games or complete challenges. Each set has its own mode of game play. In the Battle Towers game, for example, you defend your tower from an attack, and in Town Master you complete tasks to make the residents of your virtual town happy.

The Fusion Capture Plate can be used over and over in the game to let you build and add more structures to your in-app world. Accomplishing in-game tasks will get you coins that you can spend on stuff to add to the virtual Lego world. Set to sell for $35 (U.S.), the sets will add a whole new level to the fun that kids (and grown-ups) have playing with Legos.

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E-Ink and Sony’s Digital Paper technology are poised to become the next big important thing in digital communications. The Sony DPTS1 is a newly-unveiled Digital Paper tablet aimed at professionals. Sony is banking on those professionals being swamped in hundreds of physical pieces of paper and seeking a way to dig themselves out.

That goal isn’t as unattainable as it may seem. For professionals like attorneys, legislators, and anyone else who has to deal with vast amounts of hard-copy documents every day, they really can get overwhelming. The Digital Paper tablet is roughly the same size as a sheet of A4 paper and gives the feeling of writing on an actual piece of paper with an actual pen, helping make the transition easier. With a generous 4GB of internal memory and a micro SD card to accommodate even more data, the tablet has more than enough ability to store just about everything an office worker needs from day to day.

The tablet is equipped with wi-fi and a USB outlet for easy sharing. It converts Excel, MS Word, and PowerPoint documents into PDFs to make them more portable. The E-Ink technology lets you write on the documents as if they were actually sitting on your desk, resting your hand on the screen as you write. Some of Sony’s suggested uses are signing contracts, annotating scholarly articles, and making notes on legislation documents.

Sony says that the tablet will be ready to use right out of the box complete with a lithium ion battery that can operate up to three weeks on a single charge. Features like simple zooming, touchscreen page-turning, wireless sharing, and natural-feeling note taking will make the lightweight tablet an indispensable accessory in offices. At least that’s what Sony is banking on; the expected price tag for the tablets is reportedly a cool $1,100.

The post Sony’s Digital Paper Tablet Lets the Office Go Paperless first appeared on Gajitz.

There are entire online communities dedicated to guessing which designs Apple might release next, but some designers go ahead and make their own rather than waiting to see the official versions. Designer/digital artist Ricardo Afonso created this transparent iPad to show what future generations of the wildly popular tablet computer might look like.

The transparent concept is way more stylish than the current generations of iPads. Its body is almost entirely see-through glass, other than the two small bars at the top and bottom. These bars provide a place to grip as well as housing the camera, microphone, speakers and power button, along with all of the other “guts” usually hidden in the bodies of gadgets.

The concept includes two color choices: black and chrome. Alfonso’s design is only a concept, but we would love to see Apple adopt some of his ideas for future iPad generations. Since previous “updates” to the iPad design have been mostly size-related, it seems like it is about time for Apple to unveil a radical redesign of their tablet.

The post Transparent iPad Concept: See-Through Future of Tablets? first appeared on Gajitz.