Games with feeling coming soon

JAPANESE BOFFINS are developing new methods which will allow gamers to 'feel' in-game objects without having to wear complex haptic feedback gloves or other cumbersome peripherals.

The new device, developed by Takayuki Iwamoto and colleagues from the University of Tokyo, manipulates airwaves using ultrasound.

The inaudible signals create pressure waves in the air which, when they hit your hand (or presumably other sticky-out bits of our anatomy) give the tactile illusion that you are touching a solid(ish) object.

The team reckon it's only a matter of time before they'll be able to replicate textures as well as shapes.

The biggest drawback is that the current level of feedback is a bit feeble. If the boffins turned the soundwaves up to 11, the fear is that eardrums could start going pop in a rather unpleasant manner.

L'Inq
BBC