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Touchless haptic hob control
Touchless haptic feedback evaluation kit from
Ultrahaptics
gestures is, of course, now
commonplace: the ability to swipe,
pinch, push virtual buttons and
type on touchscreens is provided
by almost every type of electronic
equipment. However, almost all
require the physical touching of
controls or surfaces. Clearly, this
has limitations such as wear and
tear of electrical switches and
vulnerability to contamination – the
classic example being spilt coffee
on a computer keyboard. Some
less obvious examples include the
possibility of cross-infection from
medical equipment controls or public
toilets, or possible injury from hot or
cold surfaces or sharp or electrically
charged objects.
Touchless haptic hob
control
Controlling equipment via human
gestures without touching has
become a growing area of interest
to major technology companies over
the past few years. The enormous
global gaming market in particular
has driven demand for the detection
of body movements at a distance.
However, a fundamental weakness
of touchless controls is that they
do not offer the desired level of
precision and tactile feedback
necessary to provide the best user
experience. Users will prefer to
feel a control or different textures
and surfaces, and ideally also have
audible confirmation. Effective
simulation of tactile feedback –
haptics – is therefore being seen as
the key to unlocking the potential of
touchless gesture recognition.
Tactile Feedback
The accuracy and usefulness of
human gesture recognition is
advancing rapidly and will continue
to do so for decades to come. The
issues associated with image-based
systems are a focus of development
efforts, including adaptability
to varying lighting conditions
and backgrounds and managing
unwanted objects in the field of
view. However, only seeing and
hearing limits human perception
and the ability to effectively
control computers, which can be a
significant problem particularly in
safety critical applications. Simply
recognising human gestures does
not necessarily provide the tactile
feedback experienced from physical
controls such as switches and dials.
For example, even with the use
of predictive text, there is the
need for the user to check the
screen to ensure the correct key
has been pressed when using the
virtual keyboard of a tablet, phone
or touchscreen. Adding the third
sense of touch provides feedback
that a key, button or switch has
been activated correctly and
substantially enhances perception
and control. Tactile feedback is
even more important in some other
applications such as vibrating the
steering wheel to simulate the
effect of driving over a rumble strip,
which warns a distracted driver that
their vehicle is drifting from its road
lane. In a number of scenarios,
tactile feedback will be an absolute
necessity for the public acceptance
of touchless gesture recognition.
Haptics
Haptic feedback is the sensation
of touch and is already well known
in computer gaming to provide a
more immersive environment, and
especially in various applications
such as aircraft control where user
attention is critical. Even flat-panel
Sensors
Special Edition
62 l New-Tech Magazine Europe