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Researchers Create Mid-Air Haptic Feedback System For Touch Displays

Posted by Unknown on from the annoys-small-animals dept.

Bismillah writes "University of Bristol researchers have come up with a way to make touch screens more touchy-feely so to speak, using ultrasound waves to produce haptic feedback. You don't need to touch the screen even, as the UltraHaptics waves can be felt mid-air. Very Minority Report, but cooler." The researchers built an ultrasonic transducer grid behind an acoustically transparent display. Using acoustic modeling of a volume above the screen, they can create multiple movable control points with varying properties. A Leap Motion controller was used to detect the hand movements.

3 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Obvious post by narcc · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is this the future of porn?

    --
    Required reading for internet skeptics
  2. Will it kill my dog? by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    We're talking sound pressure levels high enough that you can feel the modulation with your fingers. Is this safe?

    And how much power does it take to make pressure that's useful for tactile feedback at a distance?

  3. Humidity will play hell with this by fragMasterFlash · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The speed of sound is relative to the density of the media it is traversing. All Ultrasonic transmit beamforming algorithms must take media density into consideration to achieve reasonable convergence. Unless this device is performing adaptive beamforming or has a very precise humidity sensor its functionality will be spotty at best, and even if it does the inventors just stepped into a shiatstorm of patents held by the companies that have been forming medical imaging IP warchests over the past 15 - 20 years. Good luck and godspeed.