We've made the leap from resistive to capacitive touchscreens that are more accurate—and multitouchy—so what's next? Screens that feel how hard you tickle them. Peratech, a U.K. company, has signed a $1.4 million deal to license its pressure-sensing touch-screen technology to Japanese screen manufacturer Nissha, which makes displays for companies including LG and Nintendo. Peratech's technology is one of several approaches that can be packed into portable devices. But it uses a novel quantum mechanism to sense pressure, and this promises to be more sensitive and more efficient than the other approaches. Peratech, which was spun out of a research lab at Durham University in 1996, uses an electrically conductive material dubbed a quantum tunnelling composite (QTC). Quantum tunnelling happens when you bring two conductors close together, but with an insulating layer still between them, and electrons jump between the two conductors. Peratech's way to do this is with a polymer that changes resistance as you apply force for the insulating layer, so that bottom line, screens using this tech can tell how hard you are pressing on the screen, since the sensors are able to tell within two micrometers of how far in the screen is bending. In an interview with MIT, Philip Taysom, Peratech's CEO said, "these are polymer materials that change their resistance as force is applied,” So as force is applied, these particles are brought closer together. "As they come into proximity, they allow quantum tunnelling," he added.