Immersion: haptics will make touch screens easier to use
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Jun 27th 2006 5:53AM
posted Jun 27th 2006 5:53AM
If you're like us, phones with on-screen keypads seem like a great idea until you actually try to use them, at which point you realize just how important the sense of touch is to your ability to type a phone number accurately. While waiting for Sony to make their next move, Immersion Corporation is using some of its down time to show off haptic touch screens, which pulse in sync with a user's taps to provide some feedback that a virtual button has been pressed. As you might guess, they're looking to market the technology to smartphone manufacturers, but to the best of our knowledge, no partners have been announced. We'd prefer screens that change shape in response to what's being displayed -- maybe Immersion can get going on that if they end up scoring $90 million in the Dual Shock fiasco.
There is a program for WM5 that makes your device vibrate when you dial with the touchscreen. But I still miss a more tactile numpad on my 6700. For those interested, the link is here:
http://pdaphonehome.com/forums/ppc-6700-xv6700/70969-cab-vibrating-phone-keys.html?highlight=vibrate+keys
The Alpine IVA-W200, an In-Dash Mobile Video/Audio Unit has this capability and it works rather well. They refer to the technology as "PulseTouch" and it can be deactivated of course. It provides the sensation of actually pressing a 'real' button.
Yeah, my HTC Wizard already does that. You can edit the registry settings so that when you press a number the phone vibrates. Nothing new here, it seems?