Haptics allows tactile interactions between humans and digital interfaces. Despite the importance of touch for humans, current technology often lacks intuitive tactile feedback for its users. While a variety of platforms have been studied to effectively generate physical sensations for touch, the scientific community is still looking for an optimal solution. In this thesis, we show that magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) constitute a promising candidate material for creating the tactile interface of the future, one able to recreate 3D shapes that can be sensed with touch. By combining these smart elastomers with small magnetic controls, we lay the foundations for a fully integrated haptic interface.We start by presenting the design and fabrication of MREs based on magnetic nanoparticles, illustrating the need for nanoparticle-based films, rather than microparticle-based ones, to pave the way for haptic displays with microtexture resolution. Furthermore, by functionalizing the nanoparticles to tune the compatibility between them and the elastomer they are dispersed in, the magneto-mechanical performance of nanoparticle-based MREs can be further enhanced. Then, we introduce a novel magnetic control scheme, where small microscale magnets are used to produce localized, high resolution magnetic fields. By optimizing their design and fabrication, the magnetic properties of the controls can be tuned to produce magnetic fields useful for actuation in real devices. Finally, we establish a pathway for integrating these programmable magnets with a MEMS-inspired device, making a significant advancement towards the first fully integrated magneto-mechanical system at the micrometer scale. Building upon this idea, we also present a promising design concept for large scale tactile feedback interfaces.