tactilefeedback
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Let this shape-shifting baton escort you around town
Don't you hate it when you have to constantly check your phone for map navigation, thus not able to fully enjoy the scenery while travelling? Rather than just switching to audio navigation (which can get annoying after a while), NTT Docomo believes tactile feedback is another possible solution, as demonstrated by its Yubi Navi ("Yubi" meaning finger in Japanese) concept at CEATEC. As you can see in the above GIF image, this simple handheld device can gently twist left and right to give turn directions to your thumb. But there's more: When paired with another Yubi Navi, the two users can simulate the feeling of holding hands by squeezing their own devices, as the lower part of the stick can push a bump up against the palm.
FingerFlux system uses magnets to add tactile feedback to touchscreens
We've seen a number of efforts that promise to make touchscreens more tactile, but none quite like this so-called FingerFlux system developed by a team of researchers from Germany's Aachen University. Its hook is a layer of magnets that lie beneath the touchscreen and react to a simple thimble that the user must wear. While that particular accoutrement could be considered a slight drawback, it does open up a number of interesting possibilities -- including the ability to draw your finger towards an item on the screen, and "lock" it in a certain area. What's particularly key, however, is that you're also able to feel a bit of feedback before you even touch the screen -- as opposed to other entirely screen-based options -- which could could let you operate something like media player controls without actually looking at your phone. Of course, it's all still a long ways from being shrunk down to phone-size, but the researchers do have a working prototype in a table-top device. Check it out in the video after the break.
RePro3D is a 'touchable' 3D interface that lets you poke pixies (video)
The illusion of 3D is kind of ruined the moment you reach out and try and grab whatever silly thing is supposed to be protruding from the screen. Researchers at Keio University in Tokyo have started to figure out a solution to the problem, and are calling their system RePro3D. By combining a glasses-free 3D display with an infrared tactile interface, they are able to create a holographic model that responds when "touched." The next step for the team is to provide feedback via a wearable device, adding the sensation of touch to the already impressive illusion of interactivity. We do have our concerns about the researcher's motives however. One of the creators, Keitaro Shimizu, told DigInfo, "there are many attractive characters in animations and games, but since those characters only exist within the screen, it feels a little lonely..." We guess getting a girlfriend is out of the question. Check out the video after the break.
Tactile Brush uses sensory illusions to let you feel games, movies
Poor arachnophobes -- it's bad enough that 3D movies can make it look like swarms of eight-legged freaks are pouring out of the screen, now Disney wants you to feel the creepy crawlies, too. In a presumed effort to one-up those "4D" chairs used at Shrek's castle down in Orlando, the company has been working on what it calls Tactile Brush -- a chair with an array of 12 vibrating coils that are able to simulate anything from the sensation of speeding around a race track to the delicate drip of rain on your back. Two techniques are used: apparent motion, which triggers two motors in quick succession to create the illusion of something moving over your skin, and phantom sensation, in which two stationary vibrations are felt as a single tingle between the two points. Disney researchers demoed Tactile Brush at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Vancouver using a racing game, but hope to bring it to amusement park rides and movie theaters -- which, in the right hands, should lead to more screaming and at least a few pairs of wet pants.
KDDI haptic smartphone prototype promises up to seven layers of touch, only shows off two
Ah, another possibly vaporous, yet intriguing addition to a long line of haptic patents and prototypes. Today's offering: a KDDI smartphone mockup (utilizing Kyocera display technology) promising to render sensation through multiple layers of applied touchscreen pressure. Imagine depressing a camera shutter on a touchscreen, and you've got the idea. KDDI only had a screen sporting two haptic layers on hand when they demoed the prototype at Wireless Japan this week, but Kyocera reportedly told Akihabara News that the technology is capable of up to seven layers of tantalizing touch. Neat. Maybe we'll get a few authentic haptic touchscreens on the market and do away with all the vibrational fakery we've been seeing.
Touch pad prototype works without movement, makes fingertips feel like they're sliding (video)
This comes from the same touchy-feely Kajimoto lab in Japan that brought us the tactile kiss transmission device and we totally see where they're going with it: maximum sensation, minimum effort. You only have to exert the gentlest of pressures on this prototype touch pad and it zaps your fingertip with little electrical signals, mimicking the feeling of sliding your finger over a surface. We imagine it's a bit like the little red pointing stick in the middle of a Lenovo ThinkPad keyboard, for example, but with the addition of "position-dependent data input" to create the illusion that your finger is actually touching different areas of the screen. For now though, if you don't mind stretching a finger to your old-stylee mouse or trackpad, then check out the video after the break.
Enzo's Pinball gets you all touchy-feely with your phone
We got a hands-on sample of Haptify's haptic-powered apps a couple months back and came away intrigued, but yearning for more. Well, the company is finally ready to sate our penchant for playtime physicality with its first game, Enzo's Pinball. The game debuts with three tables ("more coming soon"), and is designed to let you feel every bump, rattle, and ricochet as if it were the real thing. It isn't identical to its tangible counterpart, but it is an upgrade over the rumble-free digital competition. Haptify's haptic black magic works with handsets running Android 2.1 and up, so there's an awful lot of potential pinball wizards out there. You can grab the game in the Android Market and it'll cost $1.49 to give in to your tactile desires.
Researchers enable tactile feedback for e-readers using real paper, just like the olden days (video)
Brainiacs from Osaka University have created what they've called the Paranga -- a device that fulfills the lack of tactile feedback of page turns when using an e-reader. It's got a built in sensor that detects when the book is being bent and will rotate a roll of paper strips against your thumb. The force exerted against the device will control the speed of the paper roll. Although it's not accurate enough to turn one page at a time, the researches believe that if foil is used instead of paper, the voltage will be discharged as soon as a page is turned, ensuring single-page accuracy. If you want to see a video of the Paranga imitate page-turning, press play on the embed below the break.
MS applies for patent on 'light-induced shape-memory,' a touchscreen that could touch back
Touchscreens are selfish lovers, taking your gentle caresses and impatient taps without offering a hint of feedback to you. We've seen attempts to change that, like prototypes from Toshiba and Senseg that add a bit of texture to a touchable surface, but now Microsoft might be looking to bring such dynamic tactility to the one of the biggest touchable surfaces: Surface. A recent patent application entitled "Light-induced Shape-memory Polymer Display Screen" describes a technique for a display that uses infra-red light to detect touch, but also to "selectively change a topography of the topography-changing layer." In other words: to make it bumpy or smooth. Certain wavelengths of light projected on the screen can cause areas of that topography layer expand or contract, which could finally mean all our cries for attention might finally be responded to in kind.
Turn your iPhone or iPod touch into a gamepad with stick-on buttons
Software developers have been able to do some amazing things with games on portable devices like the iPhone and iPod touch, but just as some people prefer to type on a physical keyboard, gamers occasionally miss using a gamepad. A Japanese company has come up with a stick on plastic nubs that you can apply to your touch screen device to "replicate" the feel of the buttons on a game pad. While the transparent appliques are applied like a screen protector, they really seem to be of dubious benefit. While having tactile feedback is helpful when playing on a console or computer and looking up at the display and having the pad out of your line of sight, it doesn't seem helpful in this case. On a touchscreen handheld you are already looking at the controls on the display and the controls may not be in the same place for different games. If you still feel like trying out the Tactile+Plus stick-on gamepad controls, they can be ordered from Japan for ¥630, or around $7.80.
AIST's i3Space tactile 3D interface: destroyer of (virtual) worlds
Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST, to friends) is responsible for a good many innovations that the denizens of the year 2030 take for granted, and the new i³Space certainly won't tarnish the institute's record. Built on the foundation of AIST's own GyroCubeSensuous for tactile feedback, the i³Space tracks the motion of the operator's two index fingers in 3D space, and sends back "illusionary tactile and kinesthetic sense" through the controllers. Details are still a little thin, but AIST plans to show the full rig off at CEDEC next week, with eyes on reducing the size of the system of courting gaming, design, and medical applications in the near future. Hopefully they throw in this Earth-prodding simulator for free, we always wanted to have a good go at Greenland.
Sony prototypes pressure-sensitive tactile touchscreen, hopes to use it ASAP
Sony may come up with some far-out ideas, but the company insists this one's a bit closer to home: it's a LCD touchscreen with force sensing resistors and piezoelectric actuators that can detect how much pressure is applied and vibrate the panel respectively. Tech-On was rocking the scene at Open House 2010, and reports that the Cover Flow-like interface shuffled icons faster the harder a demonstrator pressed down, an interesting UI quirk in and of itself. Though the publication sadly didn't get to test out the tactile feedback for themselves, Sony said commercialization might not be too far off -- when asked about that telling Sony Ericsson logo, the company asserted that it'd like to see the tech in mobile phones "as soon as possible." We'd love to hold them to that, but unfortunately the applied pressure mechanic is just a prototype at this point.
Touchable Holography uses Wiimotes to add touch to holograms
Researchers from The University of Tokyo have demoed a touchable hologram at Siggraph 2009. The project, called Touchable Holography, involves the use of Wiimotes placed above the display to track hand motion, and an airborne ultrasound tactile display created in the university's lab to create the sensation of touch. The result is a holographic image that produces tactile feedback without any actual touching, and without degrading the image itself. Check out the video after the break for a fuller, more stunning explanation. [Thanks, Adam]
Carnegie Mellon morphs 'pop-up buttons' onto multi-touch display
While attempts to add feedback to touchscreen displays via vibration and audible tones are laudable, these attempts are nothing by comparison to the tactile euphoria felt at the press of a well-designed button. Still, many of us are willing to sacrifice tactility in order to maximize display sizes on our pocketable or portable devices. Now researchers at Carnegie Mellon have developed touch-sensitive displays with physical buttons that "pop-out" from the surface. CM's prototypes pump air through geometric-shaped holes to create concave or convex "buttons" on a screen covered with a semi-transparent latex -- IR sensors and cameras detect finger placement while a projector cast images (like numbers and graphics) onto the display. It can even sense press-force by monitoring changes in air pressure. Sure it all sounds overly cumbersome until you see the technology demonstrated. For that you can travel to Pittsburgh to count the rivers or just hit the read link below for the video. Read -- Video Read -- Technology Review
Sony applies for "tactile pixel" haptic touchscreen patent
It's never clear how a company plans on implementing a given patent, but Sony's patent application for a haptic touchscreen composed of "tactile pixels" lists former Sony Computer Entertainment chief Phil Harrison as the inventor and makes several references to potential use in "a game device" and to "game events," so it's a safe bet that it was at least developed with the PSP in mind. The patent app describes a sophisticated haptic feedback system that goes well beyond the basic rumble of today's device -- the pixels themselves are able to move up and down between two positions, providing direct feedback to user actions. That's certainly an interesting idea, but like all patent news, we're not going to hold out hope for it to surface in a consumer device anytime soon -- but we're willing to be surprised, you know?[Via PSP Fanboy]
iPhone Haptic Keyboard Prototype debuts
For quite some time, people have been asking for a haptic keyboard on the iPhone -- a way to produce tactile feedback when a user taps or hovers over a key. If you've used the Wii, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. It's that sensory feedback that confirms you've selected a wiibutton. This morning TUAW reader zebrum sent in a tip that a couple of University of Glasgow students (Malcolm Hall and Eve Hoggan) had built a prototype. I gave it a try and while I applaud the students for their effort, it's not exactly ready for prime time. It's a proof of concept, not a general-use mod. You test it out in a simple text editor. You can't for example, enable this for Safari. Moreover, it's pretty darned unstable. Sometimes it crashes. Sometimes the vibration keeps going until you quit the program, re-launch and get it to stop by tapping a key. What's cool about this app? It shows a neat new way of thinking about iPhone interaction -- even if that way is going to pay havoc on batteries if actually implemented -- and to use a helpful technology that's available on other devices. This kind of feedback uniquely highlights where keys start and end. Run your finger along the keyboard and receive instant tactile feedback (obviously in addition to the letter popups) when your selection changes.
Specifications of Verizon's LG Voyager outed
Counting down the hours until the Voyager makes an appearance on Verizon? If so, here's something sure to tide you over. Apparently, the handset's datasheet has made its way onto the intarweb, and it's got just about every detail you could ever want -- save for a price and pinpointed release date, of course. Highlights include a 2.81-inch external touchscreen, VibeTouch tactile feedback support, V CAST Mobile TV, dual integrated speakers, a two-megapixel camera, microSD expansion slot and VZ Navigator preloaded. If you've undoubtedly got this one on your must-have list, hit the read link and eat your heart out.[Via MobilitySite]
CTT-Net intros TouchSense-enabled navigation systems
It's been a while since we last heard about Immersion's TouchSense technology for LCDs, but it looks like the tactile feedback technology has now managed to squeeze itself into one of its biggest potential markets, with CTT-Net now introducing a pair of TouchSense-enabled GPS units. Aimed squarely at the Korean market, the CSN-7040 and CIN-7000 models each boasts 7-inch touch screens, and support for DMB mobile TV, along with the usual array of GPS and PMP features. But, of course, the real selling point is that tactile feedback, which Immersion says will "minimize driver distraction" by reducing the time spent glancing over at the unit. No word on pricing or availability just yet, it seems, or any word of the technology making into GPS units outside of Korea, though we're guessing Immersion is far from giving up on that last point.
Samsung SCH-W559 touts vibrating VibeTonz touchscreen
Although Immersion's VibeTonz technology has been integrated into various Samsung handsets in the past, the shakin' technology was previously limited to ring tone and gaming enhancements. Today, however, Samsung is launching the keypad-less SCH-W559, which is the self-proclaimed "world's first" handset to utilize the VibeTonz system as a means of tactile feedback. The unit's QVGA touchscreen is meant to be a hands-on experience, and whether you use a stylus or the tips of your finger, the phone will provide a vibrating cue, which can be adjusted and customized within the phone's software, whenever you touch a virtual button. Immersion claims that its technology allows the on-screen buttons to feel more like "mechanical keys" rather than just a sheet of plastic. The device will be launching solely on China Unicom initially, will support both CDMA / GSM networks, and will feature a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, handwriting recognition capability, and audio / video playback functions to boot. Of course, users will be able to pimp out their ringtones with integrated buzzing, and while we're not sure how much Samsung plans on charging for the rumbler, we can't wait for it to start shaking things up here on American soil.[Thanks, Peter S.]
Tactile passwords thwart snooping, facilitate old-fashioned muggings
Okay, we'll admit it: we're definitely not "tough guys" around here, and when we need to use the ATM after dark (heck, even before dark), we're looking over our shoulder every two seconds to make sure no one is scoping our easy-to-guess PIN or lying in wait to snatch that fresh stack of twenties out of our RSI-plagued hands. Well computer engineers at Queen's University Belfast in the UK are trying to make those late-night ATM runs just a little less terrifying, with a new system for password entry that uses tactile feedback combined with on-screen cues instead of the old ten button method we're used to. The whole process centers around a modified computer mouse with sixteen moving pins under both the index and middle fingers; different pin patterns are known as tactons. To enter a password, the user must manipulate the mouse so that a cursor moves through nine different boxes on the display, with each box sending a different, random tacton back to the mouse. Once the user feels the proper tacton correlating to the first element of his/her password, he/she then clicks the mouse button in the appropriate box and proceeds to repeat the process until the requisite number of codes have been entered. While subjects in a study felt more secure with this technique and were able to remember their tacton sequences even after several weeks of non-use, the biggest downside here is that testers needed an average of 38 seconds to negotiate all those boxes and get all their clicks in. So while the tactile system seems to do a good job thwarting nosey parkers, those 30+ seconds of staring at the screen give crooks plenty of time to sneak up behind you and force you to hand over your life savings (or $500 -- gotta love those daily limits).
