Ever noticed how your game controller vibrates whenever you act in-game? Haptic feedback can be traced back to the 1990s, using touch to communicate between machines and humans. Haptics, or haptic technology, predominantly uses sensations or vibrations to give feedback to users.
You may be familiar with this on your phone as well. Whenever you get a notification or enter an input, your phone vibrates to let you know that it has received it. Tactile feedback encompasses sensory elements such as pain, temperature, body movement, and position in space.
The human somatosensory system has at least 12 specialized receptor types, each sending a different signal to the brain. Haptic technology interfaces humans and connected machines by recreating the sense of touch and providing force feedback to its users. It is also known as 3D touch or kinaesthetic communication and can improve user experience by engaging light, sound, and touch.
The global haptic technology market is forecasted to reach USD 17.49 billion by 2032 and grow at a CAGR of 11.56% from 2023 to 2032. Here is everything you need to know about the technology, how it works, its use cases, and key drivers.
Haptic feedback opens up possibilities for new user experiences by incorporating tactile feedback or touch vibrations into applications. The technology uses vibrations, motions, and forces to communicate in some way and carry out pre-defined or defined actions.
Apple Watch is a classic example of this: when a user taps the device, a new alert or notification pops up. However, this is a basic example of haptic technology, and Android devices have built-in haptic capabilities too.
Tablets with touchscreens and many other electronics transmit information to the user via touch. Your car's steering wheel vibrates when the parking sensors detect an object just a few feet or centimeters away. Haptics can use a family of technologies and embed audio-video communications with tactile feedback into devices.
Haptic feedback employs some vibrating components that are operated by an electronic circuit. Controllers determine when the device vibrates, what pattern of vibrations it uses, and other actions that can customize the user experience. Tactile feedback may be combined with audio feedback to provide an in-depth experience.
Vibrotactile feedback can use motors to respond to built-in triggers. To understand how haptic works differently, you must explore the different haptic feedback technologies you can use.
Below are the top haptic feedback types available to users:
Haptic feedback is important because it provides more profound and more immersive experiences during engagement with the users' senses. It adds different sensations that correspond with different audio and visual stimuli. Haptic feedback uses vibrational patterns to stimulate tactile experiences; it is a powerful way of letting users know when they've done something.
A 2018 study revealed that nerve cells present in the skin capture information via touch and transmit it to the brain directly. The skin is the human body's largest organ; it can communicate positive or negative touch stimuli to sensory neurons, thus making haptic feedback highly intuitive and effective.
Haptic feedback isn't just a tiny feature but dramatically improves the in-app experience. It adds the element of presence and enriches the user experience by providing tactile feedback and increasing real-time accuracy. The benefits of haptic feedback in the medical industry can be found in robot-assisted surgeries and their moderators. During operations, it leads to better patient outcomes and reduces surgical strain.
In the virtual world, haptic feedback is used to help users see, feel, and perceive textures, weights, and shapes. It facilitates increasing natural interactions with real-world objects and physical features in simulations. Immersive audio-visual presentations help users prepare for real-world encounters, and healthcare training professionals use haptic gloves. We can expect a rise in immersive experiences in virtual reality apps and the metaverse.
Using haptic feedback in your app to enrich storytelling and recreate real-world experiences by leveraging AR and VR. It adds a layer of dynamism to interactions and can provide genuinely immersive narrative experiences.
Haptic feedback technology can heighten touch experiences in virtual environments and help users acquire the feeling of distance, shapes, and textures of digital elements as if interacting with them in the real world. You can use haptics to provide more tangible and responsive digital interactions with user interfaces in touchscreen devices. Intuitive gesture recognition, realistic touch sensations, enhanced typing experiences, and instant alerts and notifications are some example use cases. Haptic feedback controls can be embedded with infotainment and navigation apps.
You can use haptics in AR-based mobile applications to improve user engagement and enhance realism. It's essential to ensure that haptic responses are relevant, contextual, and aligned with the users' actions within the app. In the e-commerce sector, you can use haptic technology to simulate the feel of products and let users try different weights and fabrics. It's an excellent way for online shoppers to try out brands before purchasing.
You can design virtual showrooms and showcase different products/services too. If you are building a social media app, you can use haptics to convey emotions and enhance social interactions by using virtual handshakes, high-fives, and other physical cues. Second skin and motion simulators can take your apps one step closer to complete immersion. Many intelligent wearables with haptics and mobile apps are coming out, adding a new dimension to what we can do.
Interacting with digital elements may seem like pure fiction, but haptics make it now possible.
Touch is one of the best ways to interact with the world, and haptics add a sense of realism to interactions. It connects users on a deeper level and fosters communications that are linked in intimate ways using the body's senses and association with presence. Adding haptics to your mobile app can decrease completion times and error rates when delivering products or services.
You can hire iOS developers who have expertise with haptic technology to build the latest mobile apps. Haptics are meant to complement your in-app workflows and enhance user experiences. It's important to implement the right haptics strategy across different devices and platforms to ensure the best results and provide your users with high-quality, consistent, engaging, and interactive experiences. You can get started with haptics in mobile app development by getting in touch with our team at Clarion Technologies today.