Haptic Devices; or, How To Win a Prize Drawing

~While browsing the UNC website last week, I noticed a free class being offered titled "Exploring Haptic Interfaces" run by a UNC initiative called "Games4Learning". Their stated mission is "to explore the use of computer games in the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill curriculum." I certainly wasn't going to pass on something like that, so I signed up. The class took place this afternoon.

"Haptic Interfaces" are tactile input devices: they use the human sense of touch. Think, for a moment, about how you input information into your computer. Most people use only two human input devices: a keyboard, and a mouse. Others also make use of microphones and webcams, but all these devices revolve around our senses of sight and hearing. With haptic devices, you utilize an entirely separate sense to input information.

A good example of a haptic device is the popular Nintendo Wii. The Wii uses a remote control that senses movement: as you wave it around in the air, you can change what's happening in your game. For example, the game "Wii Sports" lets you simulate a tennis match, and when you swing the "wiimote", your character in the game will swing his or her tennis racket.

Before the class began, I had a chance to play around with some haptic interfaces, including a Wii (which I'd never used before). I quickly understood the popularity of a device: it's far more interactive than pushing buttons or moving a joystick. Since your own movement controls your character, playing the game involves lots of movement and swinging your arms around. It's a lot of fun, especially games with more than one person.

The other haptic device in the class was the Novint Falcon, which hooks up to your computer and lets you control programs by touch. Unlike a mouse (and the Wii), the Falcon actually provides tactile feedback. I played a racing game using the Falcon, using the device to simulate a steering wheel. When I pulled tight turns, the resistance on the Falcon increased, making it more difficult to turn my car.

While this was a lot of fun, the main point of the class was to demonstrate the educational uses of these devices. The Wii and the Falcon are gaming machines, but they merely scratch the surface of haptic potential. Imagine a highly-sensitive haptic device and corresponding computer program that could train medical students in surgical procedures, allowing them to feel what they're doing.

Part of the class involved brainstorming possible uses of haptic interfaces. My idea was a game for the Wii that would let the player simulate being an orchestra conductor, moving the wiimote to control music. I learned that such a game, Wii Music, is already on sale in Japan. Ah, those Japanese, always one step ahead of us!


At the end of the class, the presenters held a drawing for two copies of the book "Don't Bother Me Mom--I'm Learning!" by Marc Prensky, about the use of games in education. Determined to win a copy of the book (and having previously had luck in drawings), I decided to run a haptic experiment of my own. Rather than simply tossing my name into the pile, I tried to make the paper with my name on it tactilely appealing, by curling the edges and creating several tears along the sides.

Sure enough, one of the books was soon mine! Perhaps my method will be useful to you the next time you enter your name in a drawing.