In the past five years or so, we\nhave seen a leap forward in haptic capabilities in game controllers. Rumble has\ntransformed into HD vibration,<\/em> which can render nuanced textures,\nreaching a new level of material realism. Even force feedback, which Immersion\npioneered in joysticks and gaming mice back in the \u201890s, has made a resurgence\nwith the DualSense triggers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given our position in the gaming\nmarket, we are often asked, what\u2019s next? Here\u2019s a peek at our view of how\nhaptics for gaming will develop in the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you\u2019ve probably gathered, while\nDualSense is revolutionary, it\u2019s only the beginning. The sense of touch is expansive. So much so, that four channels of haptics in\nthe hand barely scratches the surface of what\u2019s possible. While the vision put\nforth in Ready Player One<\/em> of haptic suits that can render arbitrary\nsensations anywhere on the body is still far off, it is not quite as far off as\nmany think. Regardless of the time it takes, we are seeing milestones along the\npath today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DualSense is an implementation of a generalized haptic gaming experience we call quad haptics<\/em>. This type of system includes four channels of touch, two for each hand, and is typically packaged in a traditional game controller form factor. While quad-channel haptic controllers have been demonstrated in one form or another for many years, 2021 will be the year that multiple peripheral makers and game platforms begin to support it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much like the transition from stereo to multi-channel audio, multi-channel haptics refer to a haptic experience with many endpoints. Because touch feedback must occur on the body, the multi-channel level will result in a set of haptic endpoints positioned on and around the body such as gaming mice and keyboards, gaming chairs, headsets, handheld mobile devices, and so on. However, in this set up, games will not know the number of peripherals available to them and their haptic capabilities. Therefore, there\u2019s a need for layers of technology to transcode and orchestrate haptic signals for each endpoint to convey the game designer\u2019s intent for the meaning of the haptics in the game. This vision is technically feasible today. It is hindered by a classic chicken-or-egg problem. Without the widespread availability and mainstream adoption of multi-channel haptic peripherals, content creators have little incentive to create these types of haptic experiences; and without content that can take advantage of multi-channel haptics, consumers have little reason to invest in these devices. Nevertheless, there are creative solutions to this problem, and the haptic technology industry is motivated to find them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Multi-channel haptic devices, paired with another game graphic visual highlight what you can do with haptics.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Going beyond multiple channels of\nvibration and force feedback, there are entirely new sensations made possible\nwith advanced haptic systems. Thermal actuators, which can become hot or cold\nwith precisely controlled temperature, can help simulate the material of\nvirtual objects. We use our sense of heat flux when we touch materials to help\nidentify what it is. For example, the heat flux of metal is higher than that of\nwood. Without moving our hand across the surface of a real object, and by only\nmaking contact with it, we can figure out what we are touching by using our\nnerve endings\u2019 sensitivity to heat or cold. Simulating this experience will be\nespecially useful in VR, where realistic object interaction is fundamental to\nthe illusion of presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Combining thermal feedback with\nprogrammable airflow (think Dyson fan linked to software), can create compelling\nillusions of weather and the environment. A hot, dry breeze can help transport\nyou to a virtual desert, while a cold, blistering wind can alert you to an\napproaching virtual storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond airflow and temperature, new\nmaterials will let game controllers physically change and move. A controller\ncan be made to feel \u201cfull\u201d or \u201cempty\u201d by changing its shape. Social interaction\ncan be taken to a new level with the nuance of a handshake or the affection of\na loving touch transmitted in the virtual world. Eventually, these devices will\nallow people to develop muscle memory, putting gaming on par with athletic\ntraining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At some point, the need to interact\nwith physical game controllers and other computer peripherals may go away\ncompletely. This day will come later than many have thought, as the advent of\ngesture interfaces were only a few years back. When gesture and motion tracking\nbecame possible, many attempts were made to put them at the center of all\ninteraction. These efforts were important, and much progress was made along the\nway. Unfortunately, they ultimately failed because gesture input isn\u2019t enough\nto enable natural interaction with a device or a game. Touch feedback is\nneeded, or the experience doesn\u2019t feel grounded in reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hyper modal haptics is a catch-all\nterm for the solution to this problem. Instead of haptic technology being\ntargeted at a \u201cmode\u201d of human touch, like sensitivity to vibration or\ntemperature, the nerves are stimulated directly with an electrical signal that\nimitates a physical interaction with the world. It sounds far out, but\nresearchers have made significant progress in stimulating nerve endings\ndirectly with electrical signals to create a touch sensation in the brain.\nBecause these techniques tend to be invasive, they will first find use in\nmedical and therapeutic settings. However, gaming is a natural, eventual\napplication of hyper modal haptics because gaming is how we entertain\nourselves, socialize, and learn best as our lives become increasingly\nvirtual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gaming is swallowing the world. If\nyou want to understand the future of the culture, look no further than gaming \u2013\nwhich is not about playing games but instead about using technology to virtualize\nthe human experience. The industry is on the threshold of a new arms race to\ndevelop new haptic technologies that engage the body and create ever-higher\nlevels of immersion. When gaming companies compete in terms of tech specs like\nresolution, spatial audio, latency, and so on, what they are really doing is\nstriving to engage as much of the human sensory processing system as possible.\nHaptic technology currently lags behind graphics and audio, but not for long.\nAs touch is central to human experience, it will need to be included in any\ntrue realization of virtual reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By David Birnbaum, Senior Director, Technology Strategy, Office of the CTO Immersion was founded as a gaming company over a quarter-century ago. At that time, with the explosion of personal computing, the internet, and VR 1.0, the potential for digital technology to revolutionize the human experience seemed limitless. Our role was to bring the sense […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-developments-in-haptics","category-immersion-news"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"zh","enabled_languages":["en","ja","zh"],"languages":{"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ja":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Trajectory of Touch Technology for Games<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The current era: Quad haptics <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.immersion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Console-13-912x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nComing next: Multi-channel haptics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.immersion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/PC-13-1024x936.jpg\")
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.immersion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VR-11-913x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nMulti-modal haptics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Hyper modal haptics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n