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Next-generation Developers

With Immersion’s new next-generation vibration technology, developers using Immersion design tools will have increased ability to make game play feel more like the physical world. They will have the ability to design spin-up / spin-down curves; layer, blend, and cross-modulate effects; and exert fine control to produce clearly distinguishable warnings, alerts, and cues.

In addition to the information here, download Immersion white papers:

Next-generation TouchSense Vibration
Including components of the new technology, the technical and aesthetic improvements it offers, and the cost, time, and quality advantages of using the Immersion Studio for Gaming authoring tool. Also included is a suggested path for the industry transition to next-generation TouchSense technology.

Best Practices for Use of Vibration Feedback in Video Console Games
Featuring tips, tricks, and how gamers say to best use rumble.

What-You-See-Is-What-You-Feel

Essentially Immersion Studio for Gaming SDK takes a manual process and automates it. Instead of using predefined effect libraries or multiple numeric function calls that need to be repeated continually to control magnitude over time, Immersion Studio® for Gaming SDK supplies advanced effect creation and programming tools. This toolset provides a graphical drag-and-drop environment for a what-you-see-is-what-you-feel approach. It could be compared to the difference between writing chipset-specific code at the assembly language level vs. writing portable code in an advanced, object-oriented language like Java.

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How It Works

Developers create and edit a graphical representation of the effect, “preview” it on the target peripheral device, make additional changes if desired, then save it as a resource file, which is programmed to play using a simple function call, for example, PlayEffect (“lightsaber-hum”). When the game calls the effect, the Immersion API on the console retrieves the effect file and uses Immersion’s algorithms and drivers to interface with Immersion firmware in the peripheral to control the actuator in faithfully reproducing the effect.

Some effect parameters defined in a file could also be changed by the application. For example, an effect might have an amplitude that the game would change in real time to mimic car acceleration.

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