Haptic technology is bringing the virtual world to life through touch
DID YOU KNOW? Touch is vital to childhood development – people can even communicate emotions solely through touch
Chances are you’re already familiar with haptics through smartphones. The word ‘haptic’ is derived from the Greek term haptesthai, which means ‘to touch’. And thanks to haptic devices incorporated into electronic components, we can now feel things in gaming or virtual environments – force, vibration, pressure, temperature, resistance or motion, all designed to enhance our experience and add greater depth to those interactions.
The technology that underpins haptics includes things like motors, pneumatic devices and pressure-sensitive piezoelectric actuators. When you interact with a smartphone, for example, small motors spin tiny centre weights to create a vibration that you can feel. In more advanced devices, electrodes attached to your skin can ‘trick’ your nerves into feeling complex sensations like temperature or even a breeze. Imagine being able to feel something without even having to actually touch it; that’s what mid-air haptics are. You may have seen the scene in the movie Minority Report, where Tom Cruise’s character moves virtual displays through thin air with special gloves – technology today isn’t too far away from that. Did At the higher end of the spectrum, haptics can use things like ultrasound and electrostatics to create more subtle effects for this type of ‘mid-air’ interaction, allowing users to interact with a device or surface without any direct contact. They used to be the preserve of the military, but are now seen in cars.
Beyond the gaming and smartphone industries, haptics are being increasingly used in medical and industrial fields. For example, haptics allow doctors to ‘feel’ their way around a patient’s body while they carry out remote virtual surgery through a robot.
