Haptics is the term used to describe output in the form of tactile feedback from electronic devices such as smartphones that vibrate when silent and game controllers that vibrate when you crash during a computer game. Many smartphone touchscreen functions are also accompanied by a small “bump” to notify or alert the user to an action.
In this post:
Required knowledge:
1. How
Two different types of modules exist in modern smartphones: Eccentric Rotating Mass motors & (more recently) Linear Resonant Actuators.
In most instances, the vibration of a motor is a negative side effect. In your smartphone, however, the tiny motor’s only function is to cause a vibration!
2. Where & when
Many actions on an iPhone are accompanied by a haptic. Smartphones vibrate to indicate an incoming call or message when they are on silent.
- Touchscreens
- Holding down an item in a list in the Google Task app and dragging and dropping it to reorder the List
- Holding down the flashlight button to switch the light on or off
- Games controllers
- Vibrate when a collision occurs in the game.
References:
- Hager, R. (2020) A lot more goes into good smartphone haptics than you’d think, Android Police. Available at: https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/10/20/a-lot-more-goes-into-good-smartphone-haptics-than-youd-think/ (Accessed: 28 October 2023).