Haptic Applications for Mobile Devices

Haptic Dev

The Haptic Development Platform for Android is designed to simplify haptic integration for both OEMs and application developers. The first development platform of its kind—Haptic Dev ushers in a new era of customizable touch effects to drive next-gen UIs.

Haptic Development Platform consists of two core elements: 1) The Haptic Integrator is a tool for OEMs that quickly injects tactile feedback into the OEM build, and 2) The Haptic SDK helps application developers to easily design their apps with haptics.

Gaming

The PC and console gaming trades have long known that there is nothing like rumble feedback for pulling users into the deepest possible engagement with a game’s universe. That’s why every significant game platform and peripheral includes some form of programmable rumble or tactile feedback. Mobile phone haptics is analogous to PC and console rumble.

Android developers looking to integrate Immersion’s haptic effects into their platform can do so with the Haptic Development Platform. This ubiquitous platform optimizes haptics to plan on any Android 2.1 or higher handset, regardless of the underlying actuator technology.
Developer’s looking to integrate haptics on other platforms can use our TouchSense Studio tool to easily create and implement haptic effects.

Immersive Messaging

Immersive Messaging enables people to share emotions, thoughts, ideas and short pieces of information in real-time through physical senses rather than simple text, within a Shared Space on their mobile phone, using what Immersion calls hapticons. The result is an entirely new means of digital communication.

By combining elements of TouchSense and gestural technology people can connect with one another remotely using natural spatial gestures and other non-verbal forms of communication. Within a Shared Space one can literally feel another's presence with their fingertips. In a form of non-verbal communication, two people can “twiddle”, or simultaneously draw their fingers across touchscreens – when their fingers touch, they feel each other's presence through a haptic cue.

Another form of communicating in a Shared Space is through hapticons – graphic, animated symbols created onto which users can place their own personal, context-specific meanings and messages like a beating heart to convey affection with a personalized message of "I miss you."

Virtual Keyboard

Phones used to have a dedicated mechanical button for everything. This limited the functionality you could pack into a device but many users appreciated the reassuring confirmation feedback they received through their fingertips, that, yes, they really had pushed the 'Send' button.  With the advent of touchscreen phones, the mechanical buttons are being replaced by virtual keyboards.  Haptics provides users with the sense of confidence that they’ve engaged with a keypad, and can also alert users to enhanced feature functionality that today’s virtual keyboards can offer.

Additionally, haptics can also subtly alert users to errors in messaging or erroneous contact, providing more guidance to the user as they navigate their virtual interface.

Personalized Alerts

Most mobile phone users today default by putting their audio ringers on silent. As mobile phones become a “go anywhere” device, audible ringers are increasingly considered intrusive and poor etiquette in socially sensitive areas such as restaurants, performance spaces, offices, and public transportation. Meanwhile, as the functionality of these devices increase, users are receiving more diverse notifications in the form of person-to-person text messages, premium service alerts, Tweets, emails, instant messages, and presence updates; all this on top of steady traffic in voice calls and voicemail notifications.

Haptics can silently and privately provide users with contextual details without requiring an intrusive audio signal or requiring the user to visually check the device. With personalized alerts, users can feel the difference between an important notification (from your boss) versus a casual notification (a text from a college buddy). By allowing the personalization of alerts, haptics makes the mobile experience less obtrusive in day to day situations while still context and detail to the user.