Tactile feedback is nothing new
It’s been used in telecommunications and in entertainment for decades, and it became a standard feature in the late 1990s in mobile phones and video games – where vibrations alert you to new messages or help you “feel” the forces exerted on your avatar. Haptic technology has been very much a bit player in the fields that it’s infiltrated, though, and only now are we seeing it begin to take its place alongside visual and audio tech as a key element in human-computer interaction.
Smartwatches such as the upcoming Apple Watch are embracing haptics to give you turn-by-turn directions. Researchers, meanwhile, are experimenting with haptic cues built into the steering wheel of cars for enhanced safety, and with tactile feedback built into touchscreens and public maps for more natural-feeling interactions.
Haptics enable deafblind people to browse the web (thanks to Morse Code) or even to play video games. In the gaming space, haptics is a fast-growing field thanks to the rise of virtual reality and the desire of players to feel just as viscerally as they see and hear their virtual environments. Haptic technology is also helping to train the next generation of surgeons, and improving simulations in the industrial sector for pilots and large machine operators.
The basics
Before we get into any of that, let’s step back a moment and look at what haptic technology is. In most cases it uses a kind of motor called an actuator to convert electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic energy into vibrations, which can be managed and controlled by software that determines the duration, frequency, and amplitude.
Smartphones typically use haptic technology for alerts and notifications, as well as for subtle feedback as you type messages or dial numbers on their touchscreens. Video game controllers use haptics now in the same way that they did almost two decades ago with the Nintendo 64 rumble pack and PlayStation DualShock gamepad – to lend a tangibility, felt through your hands gripping the controller, to an explosion or crash or a rough surface that you’re driving over.
But there’s a lot more that haptics can do, both at the lower resolutions of feedback offered by an Xbox or PlayStation controller (which amounts to little more than an on/off switch with dimmer controls for each of their two actuators) and at the higher resolutions that the latest haptic technology can provide (which allows for feedback localized to specific coordinates and even, at the cutting-edge level, according to how hard you press on the surface).
Haptics look set to be the next big thing in our interactions with the digital world.
Read more: Haptic technology: The next frontier in video games, wearables, virtual reality, and mobile electronics
The Latest on: Haptic technology
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Haptic technology” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Haptic technology
- Honor Magic 6 Pro review: bold, bright and beautifulon May 1, 2024 at 4:31 am
The Honor Magic 6 Pro boasts a striking design and enough premium hardware specs to warrant consideration alongside the best Android phones. Its market-leading display, supersized battery and ...
- If Your iPhone Responds Too Slowly to Your Touch, This Might Be the Fixon May 1, 2024 at 4:30 am
Underneath the various touch duration options, you can test out the speed. All you need to do is tap your preferred settings and then long-press on the image of the orange flower with the blue sky ...
- Cincinnati startup Lyceum AI among Ohio companies to receive $2.6M in funding to advance new technologyon May 1, 2024 at 3:18 am
The startup was awarded $200,000. The licensing institute is the U.S. Navy. Lyceum CEO and co-founder Russ Hamer, the associate director of emerging technology programs at Miami University, said he ...
- Apple Expected to Utilize ‘Top-Tier OLED Panels’ for 2024 iPad Proon April 30, 2024 at 11:06 pm
The new OLED iPad Pro is expected to incorporate an LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) display, a cutting-edge technology that offers a more power-efficient form of OLED. With the ability to ...
- Apple Pencil 3 may get haptic feedback and new gestureson April 30, 2024 at 6:08 am
Haptic feedback, a squeeze gesture, and Find My Support would elevate the Apple Pencil 3 to a score above its rivals.
- iPad 2024 Latest Leak: Apple May Reveal All-New iPad Accessory In Dayson April 29, 2024 at 2:30 pm
The next Apple special event is next week, and as well as new iPads, we think we know details of a key new accessory.
- The Apple Pencil 3 could arrive next week and have a haptic surpriseon April 29, 2024 at 11:15 am
The Apple Pencil 3 could be announced during the May 7 iPad event and a new report claims that it'll have haptic feedback support for the first time.
- Apple iPad event: Upcoming Apple Pencil may feature haptic feedback and new gestureson April 29, 2024 at 10:34 am
Apple is gearing up for its May 7 event, where it will unveil updates to its iPad lineup and accessories. The new Apple Pencil will feature haptic feedback, providing a more lifelike drawing ...
- Apple iPad Event: New Apple Pencil to Feature Haptic Feedback and Enhanced Gestureson April 29, 2024 at 7:57 am
Get ready for an immersive drawing experience! Apple's upcoming event unveils a new Apple Pencil with haptic feedback and versatile gestures.
- New Apple Pencil to feature haptic feedback and gestureson April 29, 2024 at 12:54 am
How will the haptic feedback work? The new Apple Pencil will offer haptic feedback, a feature that adjusts the feel of the stylus based on the tool selected in the current drawing app. For example, ...
via Bing News