Feeling the Music

Well, not quite.

But researchers at the University of Tokyo have invented a device which allows you to feel virtual objects by creating a solid wave of ultrasound (yes, the same ultrasound they use in sonograms) which adjusts to the movements of your hand. Currently, this seems to create a tactile field in 3D space that can be felt and interacted with, but, from what I saw it doesn't create 3D objects just yet.

This offers very interesting possibilities for all kinds of computer-based applications. including games, 3D modeling and interactions with the web. Imagine being able to actually, haptically interact with that spaceship you're building in Maya, or feel the design object you're about to buy online. The more dirty-minded amongst us will also see the possibility for a more satisfying pornographic interaction with the web.
It would be interesting to see if they are able to simulate various textures as well, as it would be a great boon to online shops selling, for instance, clothes.
Another interesting possibility is the fabled holographic keyboard of old, allowing you to type and interact with you computer without actually having any devices attached, as the device senses the location of your hand, and supposedly, fingers, thus making it possible to type on thin air.
The title will take to the unis website, where a demo of the Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display (they may need a new name for it) can also be seen.

Come to think of it, it might also redefine the term "Wall of Sound".

Comments

IGAF: Utopia- Les Jours Meilleurs

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote this post, titled Dystopia , containing a dark version of the future, a look at the negative outcomes that might crawl out of the COVID-19 crisis. It has, by now been described as "9/11 in slow motion". Someone else broke a golden editorial rule to describe it as "2008 on crack". Media outlets, including Youtube, have warned of the long-term effects of this, on civil rights, labour and employment, surveillance and press freedom. And some, most notably Mr Orban of Hungary, have used this excellent opportunity to pass new, restrictive legislation that concentrates power in their hands. There have been calls for the elusive COVID cure not to be patented. And yet… And yet… It's easy to lose yourself in a media bubble, following the news and media 24/7, following, queuing in line to get into expensive shops, just walking into discount stores and the constant desire for many drinks (preferably with 10 friends or more, in a park...

IGAF: Disappearing the inconvenient.

This IGAF (Is Goodness a Fashion) series explores, from a non-expert point of view, the social, economic and narrative ramifications I see developing from the COVID-19 crisis, worries, but also hopes for a future that the current shock to the system may result in. It's a pity that random things happen when random people interact. That a person might be exposed to unexpected, or unpleasant sights when they leave the house. That we might see trash, homeless people, the effects of gentrification, closed stores in polluted streets, trees withered by mercurial weather, people in environmental suits, afraid of the diseases lurking within the safe confines of those suits. The world divided into those who have to face the streets, the Outside, and those who are safe Inside. It's a pity that these still interact. Our measure as a species that claims moral, ethical and intellectual hegemony over this planet will be two-fold as we deal with the COVID-19 crisis: On the one hand, socie...

IGAF: An ahistoric crisis?

One of the many reasons I have grown to appreciate interviews with Arundhati Roy over the last year of what I'm calling her book tour is that, in contrast with many speakers at conferences and interviewees, I never have the feeling she is trying to sell me something. She speaks in a calm, collected voice, full of knowledge, experience and occasional wisdom, without being desperately full of herself. One of my favourite sayings is, so far, goes something like "The most successful revolution was the secession of the rich onto a global planet, wherefrom they cannot see the poor. There is no more India, no more USA, no more Europe- there is planet Rich, then there is planet Poor, and both are global."* Carers at their limits- now more than ever. For €2400 and some chocolates? A month or so into what may be a new normal, my life is still pleasant- with some adjustment, I am, so far, privileged in this absence of change and an ability to follow the crisis as I would fol...

Caramblogage

Search This Blog