Magic touch

Gary Todd’s technology makes people feel sick. While this may sound like a strange reason for celebration, Todd has good reason to be pleased. His invention, a simulator for training medical workers in venepuncture — sticking a needle in a vein — is said to look and feel so much like the real thing that the NHS is poised to make it a key training tool. It has even induced nausea in some squeamish students.

Todd’s system, Virtual Veins, is just one example of a range of emerging technologies (from advanced touch screens to robot exoskeletons that enable wearers to become fully immersed in a virtual environment) that promise to bridge the gap between the digital world and reality, and regain a vital human touch in our dealings with computers.

The systems under the spotlight belong to the emerging field of haptic technology — from the Greek for touch — the science of applying touch and control to interaction with computers.

Most of us are familiar with a primitive version of the concept in the form of the tiny motors that make our mobile phones vibrate. But the internet is alive with rumours that everyone from Apple to RIM (the manufacturer of the BlackBerry) is poised to take the technology to the next level with advanced touch screens that fool the user into feeling a range of sensations.

Most recently, mobile phone giant Nokia demonstrated a haptic touch screen on one of its handheld internet browsers. Engineers at the company’s Helsinki research centre inserted piezoelectric actuators behind the touch screen that can be optimised and controlled to produce vibrations that mimic a range of tactile sensations, such as pushing a button, or flicking a switch.

Roope Takala, who heads the Haptikos project, believes there is a compelling case for haptic touchscreens but cites a two to five-year gap between research and development and final product, and was tight-lipped on when Nokia’s screen will make its commercial debut.

Another person convinced that tactile feedback is going to be huge is Christophe Ramstein, research chief at Californian Haptics pioneer Immersion Corporation. ‘Haptics is stepping out of the laboratory,’ said Ramstein. ‘It’s much more than just prototypes and concepts. Today people are increasingly seeing haptics as something that adds value.’

Immersion, originally spun out of research at Stanford University, offers a range of technologies. An early system that creates basic sensations by optimising the vibrations of the tiny motor present on most cell-phones has been licensed to LG and Samsung. More advanced techniques which, like Nokia’s technology, place piezoelectric actuators behind the screen, are also poised to appear on a variety of products.

Ramstein believes the stage has been set with the sophisticated, multi-touch sensing screens on devices such as Apple’s iPhone. He says some form of tactile feedback is the logical next step.

While he would not comment on rumours that Apple is interested in licensing Immersion’s technology for future versions of the iPhone, Ramstein believes the iconic device could act as a catalyst for the use of haptic technology.

‘The iPhone has been a trigger in terms of showing the market that touch screens can be used in a very clever way. Apple has done a really good job of using sensing technology and combining that with a compelling user interface. But the one thing that users are losing compared to mechanical keyboards is the feel of the keys. Not having tactile feedback is a real problem,’ he said.

In the longer term, Ramstein thinks haptic touch screens will go way beyond simply replicating the feel of buttons. ‘In 10 years from now I predict that we are going to see much more effects. Mechanical switches are one thing, but we can begin to think about more sophisticated effects like adding vibrations to music as if you’re at a concert.’

And applications of tactile touch screens are not limited to handheld devices. In the UK, a team of engineers at the Warwick Manufacturing Group(WMG) is investigating the potential of tactile feedback devices within vehicles.