Philips has definitely done more for sensory immersion than most with its amBX line of... things, but a general shortage of people willing to mount fans or rumbling wrist rests on their keyboards hasn't kept the company from developing what it thinks is next: a vibrating jacket. The unnamed and triangle-patterned coat features 64 little rumblers distributed throughout, all powered by a pair of AA batteries. The intent is to better immerse you into movies by, say, replicating a light touch running up either arm or simulating an actor's beating heartbeat -- "emotional immersion" they call it. We're not so sure this will be any more compelling than the vibrating vests companies have been trying to sell gamers (and the military) for years, but we do know that Philips had better watch out for lawyers from Immersion.

[Via Slashdot]

Sure, you may have your fancy vibrating controllers and liquid-injecting touch screens, but Takayuki Iwamoto wants you to play with the air. Iwamoto and some of his buddies at the University of Tokyo have come up with a way to use focused ultrasound to create manipulable virtual objects in space. Using multiple transducers, the "Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display" creates an acoustic radiation pressure field. Holding your hand in the field allows you to "feel" the object, manipulate it, and feel response. Right now, the system only creates a vertical field, but you had better bet that Iwamoto is working on that. As for suitable applications, interest has already been shown from both industrial and gaming developers. No word on the hentai industry taking note, but that can't be too far away. Check the video after the break to see this tech in action.

[Via BBC News]

It's been a while since we've heard anything about Nokia's Haptikos tactile touch screen technology, but with the unearthing of some juicy patent details, we finally know what's going on here. Basically, the tech uses layers under the touchscreen to allow control of surface roughness and friction. The patent describes a "plurality of closely space voltage controllable protruberances" that can raise or lower based on where the user is touching the screen, resulting in what feels like resistance and tactile feedback. Filled with fluid, the protruberances increase fiction and help users feel like they're actually touching something rather than poking at a plane of glass. No word on any devices with the new haptic tech, but we wouldn't be surprised to see this show up in some of their new touchy-feely handsets in the near future.

[Via Unwired View]

Read - Patent Application (warning: PDF)

An MIT researcher has developed a tool for students learning to play the drums which can speed up the time it takes for newcomers to pick up the instrument. The device, a robotic arm designer Graham Grindlay calls the "Haptic Guidance System" (or HAGUS), uses a drumstick fastened to a set of motors which a user holds while being led on beat. A brace holds the arm in place while the machine plays back a pre-recorded pattern -- in studies, Grindlay found that students with no drumming experience were able to hit the drum 18 percent more effectively after using the HAGUS. A spokesman from the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford says the work does a "wonderful job" demonstrating the ability of haptic devices to train beginning musicians. So... can a Rock Band implementation of this be far behind?

[Via Digg]

It's nice to know that Sony Ericsson is plugging away on making our crazy, dare-to-dream fantasies a reality. The latest proof that someone up there (and by up there, we mean Japan) likes us comes in the form of a new patent for a touchscreen handheld that forgoes physical buttons for a haptic-feedback scheme. The design mandates that the phone / game device would be free of the pesky clutter of regular buttons, and would instead by configurable to any number of forms (PSP, phone, MP3 player, digital camera) by arrangement of on-screen controls. The device would vibrate in accordance with button-presses, though it's unclear whether this will just be a standard vibration, or a more advanced, location-specific feedback system. Even with a little buzz, we're not quite sure you can replicate the feeling real gaming controls provide -- and that could seriously interfere with our typical success in games.

[Via Unwired View]

The run-up to 3GSM GSMA Mobile World Congress has begun with the announcement of LG's KF510 slider. Launching February 11th in Barcelona, the new 10.9-mm thin phone features a metal frame and tempered glass touch interface. LG primarily touts the phone's "advanced touch technology" (incorporating VibeTouch haptic feedback like their Voyager, we presume), 3 megapixel camera, and MP3 player. Available worldwide in March in Stardust Dark Gray or Sunset Red. How sweet.

[Via AVING]

If you're coming here to find out if Amex was able to deliver on the promise to "deliver the ultimate in feel and response" from a touch-sensitive keyboard, well, you'll have to check back later. They showed up at CeBIT with plastic mock-ups, not working prototypes -- still, that's more than we can say for others. The visit wasn't a complete waste, however. We now know that "Touch Sense" equates to a Cypress developed haptic interaction solution whereby each key-tap triggers a brief flash of light and sound. Although we knew that the TSK-VX7 keyboard has small, we were still surprised to see just how crazy small and slim the device plastic mockup really is. Even the price is small at something like $25 when it ships. That makes the pear-shaped TSP-VS501 all the more chubby in contrast. My, my what sneaky marketers you use for your product shots Amex. See 'em all in the gallery below.

Gallery: Hands-on with Amex's "Touch Sense" Keyboard and Skype dual-phone

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We've heard some very intelligent humans suggest that computerized beings just might be a bit more adept at handling complicated tasks, but some things just require a little TLC from the human hand. While even the operating room wasn't safe from robotic takeover, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University are testing new ways to bring real feelings back to human doctors using robotic helpers in order to operate. Straight from a chapter in Trauma Center, the team is developing haptic technologies to provide close-to-real feedback to surgeons while handling robotic tools. One option undergoing testing is the attachment of "force sensors" to instruments, which are capable of conveying details about force, direction, and depth that are critical when performing incisions and other precise tasks. The alternative is to "create mathematical computer models" that represent tool movements, and consequently relay the haptic data back to the person in charge. While kinks continue to be worked out in the primary methods, researchers have developed an "interim" system that uses color-based sensors to inform doctors how much pressure is being applied (i.e. red for intense pressure, green for light), and the team plans on "refining the systems" to produce a more usable result in the near future.

[Via MedGadget]

We're not really sure that there's going to be any consumer haptics devices outside the context of a video game anytime soon, but that hasn't stopped the European Union from funding the HAPTEX (HAPtic sensing of virtual TEXtiles) project. Haptics, of course, is the study of touch sensory feedback, and scientists at the University of Geneva are currently working on a project that will incorporate touch into your online shopping. So let's say that you're looking online to buy pants, but you're not sure if you want corduroys or jeans -- in case you didn't know what those materials felt like, you'd touch a device that would allow you to feel the various textures. The project is due to end exactly one year from now, so that's when we'll find out if the €1.66 million ($2.11 million) that EU taxpayers shelled out was really worth it -- and what devices, if any, will come to fruition.

One of the first times that we encountered haptics, or the study of force feedback, was while playing StarFox 64 back in 1997 (was it really that long ago?), with its Rumble Pak -- that little motor that shook the whole controller every time you sustained a laser hit. Today, haptics has gone from the realm of stellar video games to simulating the edge of a knife. A team of Mexican and Italian scientists announced last week that they've created virtual surfaces to fool the brain into thinking that a flat surface is actually bumpy or pointed. The researchers created a system called GRAB, which consists of a mechanized thimble, connected to the end of a motorized arm. Once the subject puts a finger inside the thimble, various motors create force feedback, and limit motion along a left-right axis, all of which could be used in medical robotics and training, so that surgeon hopefuls can better simulate operations without actually cutting any flesh. Better yet, if these scientists continue along this route, by the time the next version of Call of Duty comes out, receiving a bayonet jab may feel really close to actually drawing blood.

[Via Futurismic]