You may never have heard of haptics, but you come into contact with it every day. When your phone vibrates to indicate an incoming call, that’s haptics. When you’re playing a video game and your controller rumbles along to an explosion in the game, that’s haptics. Haptics is any technology that connects with the user through the sense of touch.
While haptic technology like vibrating cellphones is now old hat, several companies are working to improve tactile interface in gadgetry, and in some cases bring it into what was once only the realm of science fiction.
Pacinian, a company out of Spokane, WA, uses controlled static cling to give the feel of a keystroke on their ultrathin keyboard. Two surfaces with a special coating protect a slim layer of air. On the surface, there are no raised buttons, but when you push down where the keys are printed, an electrical charge pulls the surface downward at lightning speed, mimicking the sensation of pushing down a button. So what’s the point? Why not just press a button rather than feel like you’re pressing a button? Think of all the dust and gunk that gets under the keys of your normal keyboard – the Pacinian board is impervious to spills and dirt. Expect to cut down on your compressed air use sometime next year.
A division of Bayer MaterialScience, Artificial Muscle has made a tiny switch that contains two layers of electrodes sandwiching a reactive film in between. Similar to the Pacinian’s layer of air, an electrical charge causes that film to expand and contract. Look for this bit of haptics to arrive in the form of iPhone accessories: a gaming case will use Artificial Muscle’s switch to bring new sensations to smartphone games.
Even screens and monitors are getting touchy-feely. Helsinki-based Senseg has developed a special coating that changes the attractive forces between your skin and a screen. Special software uses these forces to produce a sense of vibration, clicking and textures, though the screen doesn’t move at all. This one may be a couple years off, but it’s an exciting idea – especially if you’ve ever sat next to someone who hasn’t disabled the clicking sounds on their smartphone as they’re tapping away a text – maybe the feeling of clicking will suffice over the sound.
Saving the most sci-fi for last, Tactus Technology is developing morphing screens in an undisclosed location. Their patent applications describe a tech which allows keyboards and game controls to rise out of touchscreens as needed, and then fade back into the screen when done. Being one of the more ambitious haptics projects, there is no firm date for release of this technology, but Tactus is said to be in talks with Apple and other smartphone makers.
At All-In-One, we wonder what the possibilities might be for printing items that are haptic-capable. Though it may be some time before the tech because available to smaller businesses, the idea of custom items featuring tactile sensations is very exciting!
What are your thoughts on haptic technology? Where would you like to see it applied?
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