Nowadays most of us have at least one smartphone, tablet, phablet, or otherwise touchscreen-based device that we use on a daily basis. While these products make our lives more convenient and are super portable, making the adjustment to typing on a flat screen as opposed to the raised keys on a PC or laptop keyboard can be awkward to say the least. A company called Tactus Technology is now bridging the gap between physical keyboards and touchscreens with an iPad Mini add-on called the Phorm, a tablet case that appears to generate protruded keys out of thin air.

From the outside, the Phorm looks just like your standard screen protector. It’s paper-thin, has almost no effect on the display, and provides some additional protection to your device. The difference between standard cases and the Phorm is the near-magical rising touch keyboard housed inside the case itself. Using microfluidic technology, Tactus Technology incorporated buttons that can rise up and disappear back into the case with the flip of a switch. By sliding a bar on the back of the case to the right, small fluid-filled physical buttons appear on the screen protector over the keyboard. When you slide the bar back to the left, the fluid-filled buttons disappear, turning your tablet back into a basic flat touchscreen device. In addition to this little magic trick, the Phorm also keeps your iPad extra safe. In fact, the Tactus team performed extensive drop tests, scratch tests and trials of endurance on the Phorm, and found that the protective cover could actually keep the glass from shattering if the iPad was dropped while in the case.

Tactus Technology CEO Craig Ciesla and CTO Micah Yairi said that usability was one of the most important aspects considered when developing the Phorm case, so they made sure to do their research. In internal and third-party testing with people aged 19-70 (and with a wide range of hand sizes), 70 percent of participants preferred the Tactus Phorm technology to a simple touchscreen. And for those that only want to use the raised keys part of the time without the hassle of constantly switching out cases, the Phorm offers complete hassle-free functionality.

The Phorm case for the iPad Mini can be pre-ordered now through the Phorm website for $99, or you can pick one up for $149 when they actually start shipping this summer. For those of you who pay special attention to staying “geek chic”, the case will be available in both slate gray to match the space gray iPad Mini as well as sky gray to match the silver iPad Mini. If you’re an Apple user but the Mini just isn’t your cup of tea, don’t worry – they’re getting to you, too. The Tactus Technology team plans to launch a Phorm case for the iPhone 6 Plus in the very near future, with models to fit the iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6 sometime after.