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Consumer-Level Haptics On the Way
longacre writes "Yesterday we discussed Carnegie Mellon's maglev haptics controller which, when it goes on sale, will be aimed mostly at laboratory applications, and therefore out of reach for most consumers. Today, roboticist/futurist Daniel Wilson reviews that controller in-depth as part of a larger look at the burgeoning world of tactile feedback devices. Several mobile phones now on the market use haptic touch screens as well as a number of gaming devices, such as the Novint Falcon controller. According to Wilson the applications are limitless, from making it easier to manipulate robots to allowing drivers to keep their eyes on the road when changing radio stations. Quoting: 'Haptics doesn't just close the gaps in our current computer interfaces — it can open up new possibilities. Blending haptics with recent advances in the field of robotics allows doctors to train for intricate procedures virtually, with increasingly accurate sensory feedback — and the technology can bring a new dimension to remotely controlled machines, helping negotiate obstacles in distant settings.'"
You know, there is a rather large untapped consumer market for certain varieties of tactile feedback devices.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
The only reason those buttons are harder to squeeze when the mouse is off a surface is because your fingers don't have as much leverage to push on those buttons. Those squeeze buttons are nothing more than contacts mounted on both sides of the mouse.
The scroll ball doesn't feature anything that generations the vibration. It feels exactly the same whether or not the mouse is plugged in. The mouse does feature a tiny speaker which surprised me when I did learned about it.
You can see the internals of that mouse here.
The mighty mouse is no more a haptic device than any other mouse. Game controllers with force-feedback are really the only haptic devices currently available to consumers.
Actually, I'm surprised someone hasn't introduced force feedback into mice yet. It would be interesting to get some sort of feedback when the cursor hits the edge of the screen, and even more interesting to implement it in games. Perhaps nobody has done it because the mouse would just start vibrating all over the desk.