If you're already a huge fan of football (aka soccer) and wish you could feel those sweet victories and bitter defeats, Wearable Experiments thinks it can help. Just in time for the Euro 2016 tournament, it's showing off an international version of i...
Imagine walking into a Disney theme park and being greeted by Mike from Monsters Inc. A life-size Mike, perfectly spherically-proportioned on those spindly legs. Fitting a human into a costume like that is impossible. That's why Disney Research is bu...
Researchers at the Hasso-Plattner-Institut have come up with a way for visually impaired people to interact with images, similarly to how we use touchscreen devices. Their Linespace computer display uses 3D printing components to draw raised lines and shapes.
Linespace printhead has a PLA extruder for drawing and a scraper for erasing. It also has an overhead camera that can track the user’s hand or photograph what’s on the drawing board.
Users interact with the computer via voice commands, gestures or by stepping on a pedal. The researchers have developed several demo applications for the display, including a spreadsheet reader and a game. The application shown below is called Homefinder; it shows apartments for rent in a requested area.
Linespace has been met with positive responses in HPI’s tests, particularly for its large drawing area. Its inventors are considering turning it into a commercial product, estimating that it will cost less than $1000 (USD). Check out New Scientist’s article on Linespace for more info.
Large touchscreen infotainment systems have become an important feature in modern cars, but they can also be a huge distraction for drivers. Synaptics thinks it would help if you could "feel" the screen, so it teamed with auto accessory supplier Vale...
Smartphone-powered headsets like Google Cardboard and Samsung's Gear VR have been worthy stop-gaps for introducing the medium of modern virtual reality. But this year, more resource-intensive VR experiences, games especially, will finally make it int...
Researchers from The University of Tokyo’s Shinoda – Makino Lab have created a mind-blowing device that clones both images and low amounts of haptic feedback. In other words, it creates reflections that you can “touch” and can “touch” you back.
Invented by Yasutoshi Makino, Yoshikazu Furuyama and Hiroyuki Shinoda, HaptoClone has a pair of panels filled with microscopic mirrors. These panels are arranged in such a way that an object placed on the left side will be reflected on the right, and vice-versa. For example, in the image above the ball and the hand are actually on the right, but they appear to come out on the left.
The display on each side is surrounded by ultrasonic transducers. With the help of a Kinect sensor, the transducers create force fields that replicate the sensation and location of touch input. For instance, in the image up top, if you “poke” the ball’s reflection (the one on the left), your hand will be reflected on the right display. That reflection will appear to make contact with the real ball and move it accordingly. In reality, the Kinect detected your hand’s position relative to the clone ball, and then ultrasonic waves made the real ball move. It’s just that all of that happened in real time.
HaptoClone does have limitations, the main one being the transducers’ weak output – about 100mN per square centimeter. It’s enough to replicate the feeling of a high five but not a punch. Also, HaptoClone doesn’t mimic the real object’s other parameters such as texture and temperature. Nonetheless, it provides a unique and extremely immersive experience. Imagine if video chat applications had this level of haptic feedback. Head to Shinoda – Makino Lab’s website for more on HaptoClone.
Until scientists perfect bionic vision, shouldn't there be a better way for the blind to get around than a simple cane? That's the idea behind Sentiri, a proximity-sensing headband that helps steer users around by motor-driven haptic feedback. It d...
Squeeze, and the Frebble will transmit that squeeze to your significant other who may be miles or continents away. It’s the latest in a string of gadgets that attempt to make the most out of long-distance relationships, whether it’s between lovers, friends, or family.
Frebble is a device that basically looks like a modified joystick of sorts. You’re supposed to hold it and give it a squeeze to send that reassuring squeeze to the person on the other end, who should have the other Frebble in the set. The Frebble’s built-in haptic technology makes it possible as it was designed to imitate the feeling of hand-holding.
While it might not feel like a human hand, the fact that it can transmit those squeezes in real-time should do for most people.
Frebble is currently up for funding on Kickstarter, where a pair of these devices require a minimum pledge of at least $99(USD).
Fujitsu has rolled out a prototype tablet that has a cool bit of tech inside. The tablet has haptic sensory technology inside that allows you to feel images on the screen. Users are able to feel smooth or rough textures depending on what is displayed on the screen.
The tablet uses ultrasonic vibrations to create a cushion of high-pressure air between the finger and the screen. That air acts like a cushion and makes the screen feel very smooth. Depending on what image is on the screen, the vibrations can be rapidly cycled to create the feeling of a rough surface.
Fujitsu is showing the tech off at Mobile World Congress 2014 with several images that do things like allow the user to feel the skin of an alligator, pluck virtual strings on a harp, or feel the sensation of opening a combination lock.
Now you can caress and even tickle your significant other, even when you’re far away, with Bond. It’s basically a wearable system that lets you reach out and “touch” people from far away.
The Bond device works with an iOS or Android device via Bluetooth to deliver the virtual caresses. It’s pretty versatile too, as the sensor can be worn as either a bracelet or a pendant.
Once activated, users can “touch” and tickle others remotely anywhere in the world where there’s cell service coverage.
If you touch it for 1 second, your friend will get a one second tickle. Tickles can be up to five seconds long and any colour of the rainbow – the colour just depends on how long you touch it for. Swipe BOND and you will send a rainbow tickle.
Bond is currently up for funding on Indiegogo through December 3rd, where a minimum pledge of $170(USD) will get you a pair – with one for you to keep and one for you to give away to your significant other.
If you're already a huge fan of football (aka soccer) and wish you could feel those sweet victories and bitter defeats, Wearable Experiments thinks it can help. Just in time for the Euro 2016 tournament, it's showing off an international version of i...
Imagine walking into a Disney theme park and being greeted by Mike from Monsters Inc. A life-size Mike, perfectly spherically-proportioned on those spindly legs. Fitting a human into a costume like that is impossible. That's why Disney Research is bu...
Large touchscreen infotainment systems have become an important feature in modern cars, but they can also be a huge distraction for drivers. Synaptics thinks it would help if you could "feel" the screen, so it teamed with auto accessory supplier Vale...
Smartphone-powered headsets like Google Cardboard and Samsung's Gear VR have been worthy stop-gaps for introducing the medium of modern virtual reality. But this year, more resource-intensive VR experiences, games especially, will finally make it int...
Until scientists perfect bionic vision, shouldn't there be a better way for the blind to get around than a simple cane? That's the idea behind Sentiri, a proximity-sensing headband that helps steer users around by motor-driven haptic feedback. It d...
