• more about #haptics more comments →
    Anthony Simms: I still get up and push the buttons on the TV... more »
    BigDogues: I bought a MX-1000 when they came out. Touted as "The last remote you will ever need", URC dropped support for the remote shortly after releasing it.... more »
    92BuickLeSabre: This is an example of where technology just requires me to do more work. Like the speed dial numbers of old, I'm never going to remember more than one... more »
    frigg: I wonder if this means Art Lebedev will create an entirely new, cool, product with this? Blogs will extol its virtues, geeks will admire it, and the w... more »
    Kaiser-Machead: This is nice and all, but it seems pretty unnecessary. If buttons are a concern of yours, this this doesn't look like it's going to be better than sim... more »
    RagtagOperation: But you still need set button spaces. So you'd still need a standalone touchscreen for applications where where you touch is variable (dragging maps,... more »
    Oh yeah, I still have a clock and a pencil!: Novel concept, I would like to see this in braille. more »
    metal face eagle premium is not from So Cal: I sincerely hope it doesn't require nappy dreads for successful operation, because I don't want to have to sacrifice my stunning good looks just to ad... more »
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate®: "Philips Emotion Jacket Touches You In Movie Theaters" That guy looks like he needs to touch some soap and water.. more »
    MushyHeirloom: Might help with long-distance relationships, if the whole movie-tie-in thing doesn't work out. Mom/Grandpa/significant other sends hugs? Jacket squeez... more »
  • #remotecontrols

    URC MX-5000 Remote Puts Haptic Feedback Where It Belongs

    For every five products that claim some kind of haptic feedback support, maybe one actually puts it to good use—like the URC MX-5000 touchscreen remote, which uses the technology to guide your fingers while they guide your TV. More »
  • #patent

    Apple's Future iPhone Patents Show Fingerprint ID For Different Gestures, Plus More

    MacRumors found three interesting patents that point to various new interaction techniques. The most interesting is the fingerprint ID directly on the screen so that the iPhone can see which finger you're using and accept gestures appropriately. More »
  • #haptics

    Immersion's New Haptic Touchscreen Tech Encourages Corny iPhone Romance

    Haptic technology has the possibility to make touchscreens so much better, improving accuracy and adding a whole new range of sensory feedback. Immersion, primary developers of haptic technology, presented both a refined onscreen keyboard and an incredibly cheesy "Immersive Messaging" protocol at this year's All Things D conference. More »
  • #displays

    Step Aside, Multitouch and Haptics: This Touchscreen Has Buttons

    A couple of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, apparently tired of this whole touchscreen vs. button debate, have decided to just do away with the distinction entirely. More »
  • #jackets

    Philips Emotion Jacket Touches You In Movie Theaters

    End of Titanic. Rose floating on debris, Jack in the water. You want to cry but can't. Philips' new concept jacket gives you a little hug (out of sympathy? pity?) and there go the waterworks. More »
  • #haptics

    12 Haptic Interfaces

    One look at the Novint Falcon controller can get anyone excited about the potential of haptic interfaces. OObject has put together a list of 12 such devices, offering a glimpse into our interactive future. [OObject]
  • #haptics

    Novint CEO Demands Falcon Haptics Controller Be On Consoles By Year-End

    We LOVED the Novint Falcon and pistol grip attachment in September, but non-PC, console-owning chaps were left out in the cold. If Novint is successful, that could all change by year end. Update. More »
  • #lickableholograms

    Ultrasound Haptic Devices Can Project Tactile Shapes Into Thin Air

    Researchers at the University of Tokyo have demonstrated a device that can create touchable, creepily invisible floating "objects" using focused ultrasound waves. Though the technology is in the early testing stages, its designers have already expressed an interest in weaponi- I mean, commercializing it for possible use in gaming and design applications. For now, the team has only been able to simulate resistance in one direction, but say that forming complex shapes and textures is plausible. More »
  • #pmp

    Cowon P5 Portable Media Player Has 5-inch Touchscreen, Haptics, Usual Cowon Goodness

    Cowon's upcoming P5 will improve on their A3 and Q5W portable media players (which we've both reviewed) with the addition of a haptics touch-feedback feature. The rest is fairly similar: a 800x480 screen, FM radio, stereo Bluetooth, TV-out, stereo speakers, USB, extreme codec support and 40GB-80GB sizes. There will still be Wi-Fi, but you'll have to get it tacked on after the fact with a dongle. The Korean price is $430ish by the end of the month. No US info yet as far as we know. Maybe we can trade them an early sneak peek at Starcraft 3 for this? [Cowon via CNET]
  • #diy

    Keyboard Haptics Mod Turns Shrill PC Speaker Into Soothing Vibration

    Modder and frequent terminal user Matt was getting mighty tired of his piercing PC speaker going off with every typo, so he rigged up a nifty DIY haptics setup using a Microsoft keyboard and an old cellphone vibrator triggered by the scroll lock LED. Unless you're playing Oregon Trail in your elementary school's computer lab 15 years ago, you probably haven't heard your PC speaker in a long while, but if you're frequently using the terminal (especially under Linux) for command line tasks, this is the mod for you. [CiboMahto via MAKE]
  • #motorola

    Motorola Blaze Adds Another Touch Screen Handset to the Pile

    The Boy Genius Report has a first look at Motorola's answer to the "Touch Screen Wars," called the Blaze. From the looks of the branding, this touchy-feely handset is coming to Verizon, complete with a special Verizon-only operating system. BGR says the touch screen is decent, and the mobile browser is "OK," but nothing to write home about. Email and texting functionality are also lambasted by BGR, as is the crush-the-screen-to-make-it-work haptic touchscreen feedback. Specs include a 2 megapixel camera, EV-DO Rev. A support, GPS, and Bluetooth. They didn't sound too keen on the Blaze, but they didn't write it off completely. Thoughts? [Boy Genius Report]
  • #haptics

    Scientists Make Bandaid-Sized Flexible Haptic Display

    A team of Korean and US scientists have developed a new type of display that delivers information via your biggest organ: your skin (yes, I know what you were thinking.) Their new tactile "display" is flexible enough to be rolled up around your finger like a bandaid, and may be a useful computerized Braille aid. The device uses new precisely-arranged electroactive polymers, which expand when a voltage is applied creating gentle pressure to nearby skin. This, along with the fact it doesn't need complex electronics, means that it's the kind of tech that could easily end up in haptic-feedback data gloves or a "tele-feeling transferring system," which sounds *ahem* fascinating. [Physorg]
  • #teledildonics

    Could I Have a Match? Try Vibrators and Nintendo Wiimotes

    Remember when it was cool to joke about how the vibrating Wii remote looked, felt and behaved pretty much like a vibrator? No? Well, too bad, because it turns out that the two were more similar than the light-hearted humor suggested. In fact, both tools of pleasure employ technology built from a patent from the same company, Immersion. More »
  • #rumors

    Haptic Feedback Implementation Coming to iPhone Courtesy of Immersion Corp?

    If a Palluxo.com source is to be believed, Apple is currently in talks with Immersion Corp. regarding haptic technology implementation for the iPhone. Immersion Corp. solutions have been implemented in Samsung handsets in the past and it now looks like Apple want in on the action. The conjecture gathers weight thanks to Clent Richardson, a former Apple executive that has just been appointed as Immersion Corporation's CEO. More »
  • #haptics

    Maglev Haptic Control Technology Could be Used for Microsurgery, Robot Control

    Gadget Lab got a hands-on demo with a prototype magnetic levitation haptic control unit at Carnegie Mellon University, where they experienced the artifical feel (via magnets) of 3d rabbits, hard surfaces and vinyl records. In addition to simulating the general shapes of objects, the technology can accurately reproduce qualities like texture and elasticity using an interesting dual joystick set up. More »
  • #cellphones

    What the Samsung Soul's Haptic OLED Touchscreen Soul Patch Is Like

    The Samsung Soul tries, and largely succeeds at making a touchscreen 5 way navpad. Like the Maximus Optimus keyboard, the controller is backlit by an OLED screen (this one is a two color deal) that changes icons depending on the context: More »
  • #cellphones

    Haptic Phone Design Has Physical Buttons Occasionally

    The iPhone may have a dynamic UI that changes to suit whatever program's currently running, but it doesn't physically change. This All in One haptics phone designed by Lukas Koh does (on paper), and creates raised buttons depending on what mode you're currently in. Example: phone mode has the dial pad, and text entry mode presumably has a keyboard. Looks great, but impossible to make. [Yanko Design]
  • #gadgets

    Novint Falcon Actually in the Wild

    You knew the Novint Falcon 3D haptic joystick was finally shipping, but now we've got confirmation from customer number one, Tristan George. Tristan says he's played the Half Life 2 mod with the Falcon and "it's amazing, very fun to play." More »
  • #gadgets

    Vibrating Combat Attire

    Creepy. This is some sort of vibrating haptic combat vest that will alert you to the state of your comrades in battle and might even be able to sense incoming enemies. More »
  • #gadgets

    Nintendo Physically Augmented Reality Amusement Park

    Our second favorite class from when we were in grad school at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program was taught by game designer Frank Lantz of area/code. The best project—certainly the most copyright infringing one—to come out of his Big Games class this past semester might just be the Nintendo Amusement Park, "a real life obstacle course which a player jumps through using a power assist harness." More »