Coming from the general instructable "soft button", this instructable shows how to advance and experiment to get a totally new kind of soft button.

We started with an old pouch for a digital camera. We have used only one part of it and turned it inside out. Then we discovered it had a flap at the (former) bottom. This flap is in an upright position, it can be pushed against the bottom, but regains its former position. SO we can use it as a "button".

Step 1: Materials & Tools & Script

Materials
An old pouch of a digital camera
Conductive thread
ARDUINO
a cheap piezo speaker
some wires
male connectors for the PINS of the ARDUINO

tools:
pincher
solering device

script:
link to script

Step 2: Conductive Parts

We showed how to use reinforced aluminium foil in the instructable "soft button". But here we used conductive thread instead of aluminium.

We had the idea of embroidering two images on the surfaces which touch when the button is pushed. These images were a sun and a rainin cloud. (It was just after the holidays.)

The conductive thread gives us the possibility to make images of the silvery thread which can conduct electricity, so a signal is transmitted, just like the aluminium foil.

Step 3: Adding the Sound

The conductive thread is connected to electrical wires, and the wires are connected to an ARDUINO, with a speaker.

The wires connected to the PINS 2 and 3 are continously checked for touching.
When touched the melody is played on PIN 8, like the example in:
www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Tone

The speaker can be hidden in the pouch.

When pushed the ARDUINO produces the melody triggered by the button.

Step 4: What Follows

We always want to go further, the (wireless) plans are:

make our own "ARDUINO" which fits into the pouch.
add a transceiver to this ATmega 328,
using another ARDUINO transceiver attached to the computer to catch the signal of the former
and have a FLASH movie react on the pushing of the button...this FLASH movie could be beamed on the wall....

The pouch then becomes a object wireless connected to the laptop.