Electrochemical Screen
Use use electric and photonic patterning to emulate material surface properties.
Chemical elements have their properties because of how nuclei entangle electrons into surface of electromagnetic field with properties characteristic to the materials we make of them.
Assuming that material properties are acquired merely because of the electromagnetic field patterns, the idea would be of a material surface emulator, that would use an electromagnetic field patterning to emulate the electromagnetic field patterns of materials without using nuclei, and to enable raw surfaces to acquire properties of arbitrary materials.
It would work similar to how electrolysis enables to change chemical properties of an electrode by using not chemistry but electricity, yet more advanced: just like computer screen is just a pattern of photonic emissions, and can already emulate the appearance of things, we could go a step further, and have an electro-photonic surfaces, that emulate chemical properties of surfaces of materials.
We could start experimenting with this today, by trying to modulate the electromagnetic field on the surfaces of materials by etching ultra-fine conductive and photoreceptive lattices and using current/voltage and illumination modulation with computers, using a process similar to photolitography to prepare such surfaces.
Note: shared by [xaviergisz, from Halfbakery]
Yes, and now I remember, I already published this idea before: Material Emulation Screen, -- original, better.
Would this screen be able to feel smooth to touch and shiny like gold one millisecond, yet sticky and black like tar another millisecond?