One way this can be successfully accomplished is by "multiplexing" the electrodes normally used to relay touch input -- that is, using the same electrodes to handle the signals for both touch control and the pixels of the LCD, according to a 2010 IHS report on touch-screen displays.
The hope was that this would restore brain cell activity in the thalamus, a relay station that integrates input from many parts of the brain, helping make consciousness possible.
The phone, Haven says, is the platform that combines these three streams: it gets input from and monitors its user, is embedded in the mesh of the Internet, and can relay massive amounts of data that could be the basis for useful algorithms.