Slashdot Mirror
Current State of Haptic Research
prostoalex writes "An article on InformIT.com looks at the current state of haptic technologies: "In the consumer realm, two companies dominate the field in the creation of tactile I/O devices: Immersion Corporation and SensAble Technologies. Right now, each seems interested in consolidating a position in the marketplace.""
From TFA: "No wonder his book suggests that we could become so used to these electronic shadows that if we were to lose them suddenly, it would be like having a stroke."
Having a stroke means that you lose functionality; you can't communicate or you lose mobility or you can't do things that you used to do. That sounds exactly like what happens when the power goes out. Take away my computer and I go from a fully functioning member of society to an unemployed bum in a millisecond.
As for the actual content of the article, the technology already exists for applications where it is economical. We've had various kinds of remote manipulation with tactile feedback since the fifties at least. And what about video games with tactile feedback. I think this is one of those cases where the technology won't advance very fast until someone finds the 'killer' application.