Haptic feedback uses touch to communicate a certain action. For example, when a controller vibrates upon performing an action in a game. This feedback lets users know their action has been received, providing them with a more immersive experience.
To better explain what haptic feedback is, we’ve created this short guide. Let’s explore its meaning, uses, and benefits.
Key Takeaways
- Touch and vibrations are the most common kinds of haptic feedback.
- Haptic feedback is used in mobile phones, video games, VR, and even the medical field.
- The first use of haptic technology was in a WWII aircraft.
- Sega’s Moto-Cross was the first game to integrate haptic feedback technology.
Table of Contents
What Is Haptic Feedback?
Haptic feedback uses the sense of touch in a user interface design to provide information. It is commonly used in handheld electronic devices like smartphones, tablets, video game controllers, and arcade joysticks.
Haptic feedback has transformed the way we use devices today by allowing them to communicate and learn along with us. In fact, you experience forms of haptic feedback every day on your iPhone and Android devices. For example, when using your mobile phone, you might notice vibrations that signify responses to your actions.
How Designers Use Haptic Feedback
There is no shortage of ways a designer can use haptic technology feedback. It can be applied to:
- Mobile phones
- Ultrasound scanning
- Video games
- Personal computing
- Virtual reality
- Near-field communication (NFC) payments
- Parking sensors
Generally, haptic feedback can be used in various daily activities. Whether you’re waiting for a response, have a scheduled meeting, or want to be notified of the results of your social media marketing plan, haptic feedback through your mobile or smartwatch will alert you to the action.
For instance, if you pay for your groceries with Apple Pay on your iPhone and it doesn’t work, you’ll receive a long, heavy vibration. This signal often means there has been an error, and over time, you’ll understand these vibrations without even having to look at the screen.
Another example is when you’re parking a car with built-in sensors. When you reverse, the parking sensors alert you when you come within a certain distance of an object, using varying vibration strengths or frequencies based on your proximity. The closer your car gets to an object, the louder the beeping might get.
Even in the medical field, the developing branch of robot-assisted surgery (RAS) is also using haptic feedback to improve surgical outcomes.
Haptic Feedback Benefits
Here are several benefits of haptic feedback:
- Enhance UX: As a technology, haptic feedback is incredibly useful for enhancing a user’s experience — that alone is a key reason why designers should consider haptic feedback when working on the UX/UI of a commercial product.
- Conveys information: The sense of touch conveys rich and detailed information. When combined with other senses, touch dramatically increases the amount of information the brain receives. This can reduce user errors and the time taken to complete a task.
- Reduces errors: Minimizing the errors and difficulties a user encounters is a designer’s utmost priority. Haptic feedback gives you the opportunity to create a frictionless UX design by providing immediate responses to user actions. For example, subtle vibrations when typing on a touchscreen keyboard can help confirm each keypress.
- Increases safety: In some industries, like healthcare, haptic feedback can help improve safety levels. In RAS specifically, haptic feedback can enhance surgeons’ precision and control during operation, helping save lives.
- Creates a competitive advantage: By adding haptic feedback to their products, enterprises not only enhance their UX design but also set themselves apart in the market. As a relatively new feature, this allows companies to provide tech novelties that attract consumers, boosting customer satisfaction and enhancing the brand’s image.
Previous Applications of Haptic Feedback
Haptic feedback hasn’t always been as it is today. Here’s a bit of backstory to haptic feedback:
- 1950s – 1970s: Aircrafts, telephones, & communication systems
- Late 1970s – 1990s: Mainstream use of haptic feedback
- The future of haptic feedback
1950s - 1970s: Aircrafts, Telephones, & Communication Systems
The use of haptic technology dates back to the 1950s when WWII-era aircraft used vibrations in their controls to help pilots maneuver safely as the plane approached a stall. However, haptic technology gained popularity and widespread use in the 1970s.
Around this period, the tactile telephone was patented by Thomas D. Shannon, and shortly afterward, the first tactile human-machine communication system was developed.
Late 1970s – 1990s: Mainstream Use of Haptic Feedback
In the late 70s, haptic technology and feedback were integrated into video games, classic arcade, and racing games. Sega’s Moto-Cross was among the first games to integrate haptic feedback technology, incorporating vibrations in the handlebars when the rider came in contact with other vehicles or obstacles.
However, many believe that the real breakthrough for haptic feedback came in 1997 with Nintendo’s release of the RumblePak. This accessory had a haptic add-on to the Nintendo 64 controllers, enhancing the gaming experience.
In the 1980s, Earthshaker! became the first pinball machine to incorporate haptic technology. From video games, haptic tech moved on to telephones in the 1990s. Motorola’s StarTac was the first phone to feature a vibration function that alerts users of incoming calls.
The Future of Haptic Feedback
Haptic feedback has come a long way since its early use in video games. Now, we see it in mobile devices and laptops, where its importance in design, UX, and other areas is critical for success.
Virtual reality (VR) is another area where haptic feedback applications see the most growth. Adding a sense of touch to complement sight and audio enhances the immersive experience in VR. In fact, haptic feedback brings us closer to blurring the line between reality and digital worlds.
Haptic Feedback Takeaways
Haptic feedback has been crucial in shaping how we interact with content and how designers use those interactions to create better designs and more advanced products. It has revolutionized our experiences with phones, computers, and video games through tactile responses.
The future of haptic technology is still evolving, and there’s no telling what this technology can do for us years into the future. One thing is certain: haptic technology is here to stay — and it’s just a tap or a touch away.
