The world of gaming is changing, Immersion is leading the charge.
In collaboration with Google, we’ve launched a new category of mobile games – Games You Can Feel, spotlighted this week in the games section on Google Play. The games feature TouchSense® Engage, Immersion’s haptic technology for making mobile games rumble, shake, pop, and zap on your mobile device. The wide range of games available, including fan favorites Angry Birds Friends by Rovio and Trials Frontier (two new developers with Immersion) to Clouds and Sheep by Handy Games and Basketball Tournament by Fat Bat Studios.
It’s important to note that this haptic feedback is not the same that you’ve experienced in the past. For example, TouchSense Engage has the capability to make it feel like its raining inside your mobile phone. The tactile effects are distinguished enough that you can feel the difference between a basketball bounce and a whiffle ball bounce. This is what is changing the way that you experience the mobile game.
Imagine how much better you would be at playing a mobile game if you had touch as a point of reference for an interaction. Once game designers start to think about the features that can be enabled with tactile effect, a new world of game design opens up. Using your hands to feel the experience adds a basic intuition that goes beyond the audio and visual components of today’s mobile games.
While there is a lot of talk about virtual reality and augmented reality out there (see a recent blog post from Immersion on virtual reality at GDC 2015), haptic technology is here now. We can get pretty far with the motor that is currently on your mobile device and Immersion’s TouchSense Engage. Download your choice of game from Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/promotion_30014e7_haptics_games
One additional note: Haptics created using TouchSense doesn’t consume the same about of battery as silent mode. TouchSense Engage precisely controls the actuator to optimize battery consumption. One less hurdle to trying it out today.