Haptic technology has already been around for several years, but it’s only now beginning to enter the mainstream. Haptic feedback is being integrated into everything from smart phones and tablets to medical devices and the internet of things. What Is Haptic Technology? This post explores haptic technology for smart phones and the internet of things.
What Is Haptic Technology?
Haptics refers to the sense of touch. As such, haptic technology is designed to recreate the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. This can be done in a number of ways. For example, many game controllers use vibration motors which are activated at certain times during game play. The controller might vibrate when a player’s car crashes into a wall, for example, or when a player fires a weapon. Other examples include vibrating alarms on cell phones and controllers that give feedback when pressed.
The next generation of haptic technology will take this concept one step further by allowing people to feel physical sensations like textures and shapes through their devices. This could allow surgeons to see and manipulate virtual tools while performing surgery with their hands inside a patient’s body, for example; or it could enable workers on an assembly line to feel the size and shape of objects they’re assembling
If you are reading this post, then your Apple iPhone 6s or Google Nexus 5X has haptic technology. How often do you use it? Did you know that haptic technology is not new and began with the first commercial arcade game released in 1971? This post explores haptic technology for smart phones and the internet of things.
What is Haptic Technology?
Haptic technology is defined as the science of applying touch (tactile) sensation and control to interaction with computer applications. The word “haptics” comes from the Greek word “haptikos” which means “to fasten”. Haptic technologies include tactile (touch) feedback, kinesthetic feedback (force and motion), and sonic feedback (sound).
The most common form of haptic technology found in consumer devices today is tactile feedback which is typically used to convey information through vibration alerts. For example, when a user receives an SMS text alert on their smart phone, the device vibrates to let them know a message has been received.
Types of Haptic Technology
There are many types of haptics technologies that are used in a variety of applications:
The future of haptics in mobile devices is not just to provide a better user experience for a mobile phone, but also to help us perform tasks more effectively and efficiently. The way we interact with our mobile phones and related devices will change dramatically in the next five years. Haptic technology will be the key to unlocking this potential by providing users with valuable information that they can use and interact with on their devices.
Haptics is the science and technology of applying tactile sensations (e.g., pressure, motion, vibration) to humans via machines. It has been defined as “the science of applying touch (taktile) sensation and control to interaction with computer applications.” Haptic technology has been used in medicine, aerospace, entertainment, manufacturing, robotics, automotive industry and many other fields.
The application of haptics in mobile devices has been described as “touch-enabled interfaces that are capable of sensing the input from fingertips or stylus.” A new trend in mobile device design is to combine haptic feedback with other technologies such as augmented reality (AR). Haptic feedback systems have been widely used for many years in video games, gaming consoles, virtual reality (VR) devices, smart phones and tablet computers.
The future of haptic technology is not
Haptic technology is the science of applying touch (tactile) sensation and control to interaction with computer applications. The word comes from the Greek haptikos, meaning able to grasp or touch, and has a broad range of applications including mobile phones, automotive applications such as touch feedback on steering wheels, force feedback joysticks, video games, remote controls and more.
Haptic technology is used in a wide range of products, though you may not have noticed it. It’s often used in mobile phones and game consoles to give vibrating alerts or tactile feedback when pushing buttons. Devices that use haptics include the Nintendo Wii gaming console and smartphones such as Blackberry devices. In the future, this technology could be applied to a wide range of devices from GPS systems to medical equipment.
Haptics is the science of applying touch (tactile) sensation and control to interaction with computer applications. The word haptic, from the Greek haptikos, means pertaining to the sense of touch and comes from the same root as hap-tos meaning contact or touching.
The term refers to a range of technologies that stimulate sensory feedback in users through vibration, motion, force, or changes in temperature. This feedback can be used to give users a sense of immersion in virtual worlds, physical environments such as automobile simulators, or tele-operated robots. It can also be used to convey information about an object’s shape and texture by stimulating different parts of the skin and allowing users to explore virtual objects.
Haptic technology is sometimes referred to as “kinaesthetic communication,” “force feedback,” or “3D touch.”
The word “haptic”, deriving from the Greek haptikos, can be translated as “pertaining to the sense of touch”, and is used to describe technologies which interface with the user through the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions. Haptic feedback has been utilized in different forms for years, from joysticks giving resistance to mimic real-life controls, to car steering wheels vibrating when a wheel leaves its lane.
The most common form of haptic technology is vibration feedback from cell phones or game controllers. A vibration motor is a small weighted device that is off-balanced, causing it to rapidly spin when electric current is applied. This produces a vibration in the device that you can feel in your hand.
Haptic technology allows users to interact with their devices without looking at them. This is especially useful in applications where a user’s hands are occupied and unable to look at their phone such as walking, driving, cooking etc… Haptic feedback can also be used to provide information without alerting others of incoming notifications through visual cues such as flashing lights or sounds.
Haptic technology, or haptics, is a tactile feedback technology which takes advantage of a user’s sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. This mechanical stimulation can be used to assist in the creation of virtual objects in a computer simulation, to control virtual objects and to enhance remote control of machines and devices (telerobotics). It has been described as “the science of applying touch (tactile) sensation and control to interaction with computer applications”.
Haptic technology has made it possible to investigate how the human sense of touch works by allowing the creation of carefully controlled haptic virtual objects.
Haptic devices may incorporate tactile sensors that measure forces exerted by the user on the interface. A person interacting with the system is provided with haptic feedback in various forms that can be felt as vibrations, forces or motions. Examples include:
joysticks – typically provide force feedback as vibrations in the stick
force-feedback game controllers – incorporate multiple actuators that enable users to feel sensations such as vibration, jolts and impacts while interacting with virtual objects or environments
steering wheels – typically incorporate torque motors for simulating resistance when turning a car through corners
Data gloves – worn on the hand for inputting hand position and