Aren't apple's force/3d touch screens basically that, minus actually changing the interface geometry (but still having pretty sophisticated haptic feedback)?
I believe that was the result of a patent lawsuit brought by a company called Immersion, who developed several haptic technologies during the first wave of VR tech in the early-mid 1990s. Why they couldn't work out a licensing deal is anyone's guess; even Nintendo pays those royalties.
No, they did log a patent to do that but they never implemented tactile ridges etc. I guess the tech is not ready