Article

Researchers reimagine touch technology with haptic force field

Physical contact with a touchscreen has long been the requirement for haptic feedback, until now. 

October 8, 2013

Researchers from the University of Bristol Interaction and Graphics group in the United Kingdom have developed what is essentially a force field that allows for haptic feedback with interactive technology — without a user actually touching a screen.

The system is called UltraHaptics and it relies on the principal of acoustic radiation to project sensations through a screen directly into the user's hands in mid-air.

The use of ultrasonic vibrations is a new technique for delivering tactile sensations to the user, according to a news release. An array of tiny speakers called ultrasonic transducers emit very high frequency sound waves. When all of the sound waves meet at the same location at the same time, they create sensations on a human's skin.

Tom Carter, Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science's BIG research group, said the goal of the project was to integrate haptic feedback into interactive surfaces without sacrificing simplicity and accessibility.

"To achieve this, we have designed a system with an ultrasound transducer array positioned beneath an acoustically transparent display. This arrangement allows the projection of focused ultrasound through the interactive surface and directly onto the users' bare hands," Carter said. "By creating multiple simultaneous feedback points, and giving them individual tactile properties, users can receive localized feedback associated to their actions."

The technology is still in its infancy, but researchers are developing ideas for future applications, including mid-air gestures and layers of tactile information hovering over displays.

Watch a video explaining the technology below:

Read more about interactive technology.