Haptics Adds New Dimensions to Touchscreens

Think of vibrate mode on a cell phone, or videogame controllers rumbling when a linebacker blindsides a quarterback. Levin is the chief sales and marketing officer of Pacinian of Spokane, Wash., one of many haptics startups to appear in recent years. In the near future, these companies plan to give smartphones and tablets new powers. Imagine videogame guns that deliver a kick to your hand when fired, just like the real thing; virtual guitars with strings that feel real; buttons and knobs that actually grow out of touchscreens.

The most mind-blowing brand of haptics may come from a Silicon Valley startup called Tactus Technology. In a pair of patent applications, the company's executives describe a touchscreen display capable of growing a keyboard out of its surface. Seriously. You go to type an e-mail, and a keyboard rises up slightly out of the display, allowing your fingers to feel the edges of the letters, numbers, and symbols. When you're done, the keyboard recedes back into the surface. To play a game, controller knobs and buttons emerge.

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