Hey Haptics Insider,

Welcome to the latest edition of All Things Haptics. This edition focuses on product releases, freshly published patents, and research to tickle your senses.

Haptics can make a consumer device feel more alive, give it personality, and make it actually interactive, even when you’re just button mashing on a glass screen.

Vibration can also go very wrong. During a recent Formula 1 session, Fernando Alonso reported “huge vibrations” in his Aston Martin race car as it lost performance. Unintended ‘haptics’ at their worst.

This month has plenty of the vibration engineers actually want, from game controllers and hair tools to smart rings and even haptic shirts.

Let’s dive right in.

Product Releases & News

📳 Pixel Finally Lets You Know Who’s Buzzing - Pixel 11 adds different haptic patterns for calls, notifications and individual contacts, so you can tell what’s happening without looking at the screen. (Notebook Check)

🎮 Genki Goes Full Haptics Nerd - Genki’s newly funded Manta controller uses two independently driven LMR motors, with a built-in screen for tuning strength, frequency response and force curve. Because apparently a settings app was too easy. (IGN)

🏎️ MOZA Takes Haptics Beyond the Controls - MOZA’s new HMA150 brings vibration up to 200 Hz into the full motion platform, extending tactile feedback from wheels and pedals to the rest of the cockpit. (Basic Tutorials)

🔊 Audio-to-Haptics Meets Rumble - TITAN Haptics’ VH Module generates haptic effects from game audio while also supporting existing rumble commands, blending both in real time. (TITAN Blog)

🍿 More Movie Seats Get Haptics - Malco Theatres is adding D-BOX motion seating to more auditoriums, bringing more physical feedback into the movie experience. P.S. The Odyssey has D-BOX. The bad news? Still sold out. (D-BOX)

💇 Beauty Gets a Buzz - Vibrating flatirons and brushes are popping up in haircare, using rapid vibration to help “reduce snagging, improve glide and massage the scalp.” Another unexpected home for haptics. (Allure)

🎛️ A Synth That Fights Back - Mach Devices’ new MD-7 uses motorized haptic controls that change resistance and create virtual detents, letting musicians feel parameter changes instead of staring at the screen. (Mach Devices)

🎧 Headphones That Buzz Your Cartilage -Auricle released awareONE headphones, which use cartilage conduction for audio and haptic vibration for bass while leaving the ear canal completely open. (Audioxpress)

🚗 Your Car Is Becoming a Game Controller - Cinemo, SmashLabs and Dolby are combining in-car haptics, lighting, climate and spatial audio so game events can trigger physical responses across the cabin. (Automotiveworld)

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Fresh Patents & Applications

📸 Apple’s Haptic Button Patent Finally Gets the Stamp - Apple was granted a patent for a camera-style control combining force sensing, a physical switch and haptic feedback. (USPTO)

⚡ Oura Wants Haptics Without the Buzz - A newly published Oura patent application describes electrical stimulation, with different pulse patterns designed to create distinguishable sensations through the finger. (Gadgets & Wearables)

🎢 Disney Warns You About the Scary Parts? - A newly published Disney patent application proposes personalized ride alerts, including haptic warnings, before triggers like spiders, flashing lights or other unwanted surprises. (WDWNT)

✏️ Apple Wants a Smarter Squeeze - Apple was granted a patent for improving stylus squeeze detection using multiple force sensors and dynamic thresholds, with haptics confirming the input. (JUSTIA)

Research & Resources

☠️ Your Skin Patch Would Like a Word - NC State researchers built a wearable that detects environmental hazards and uses distinct haptic patterns to tell you what it found, without waiting for you to check your phone. (New Atlas)

👕 A Shirt That Can Hit Back - Researchers tested a soft haptic textile for creating pressure, vibration, sliding and impact sensations across the body. (Nature)

🧬 Haptics for the Afterlife? - The project claims a 40-sensor suit could capture your movements, vitals and skills to create a “Digital DNA” version of you for a future humanoid robot. (Interesting Engineering)

🪨 There Is No Ball - This little handheld demo makes you feel a virtual marble rolling through a tube that doesn’t actually exist. It’s a modern rebuild of a classic haptic illusion. (AWD Blog)

🤖 AI Learns How You Like to Be Buzzed - USC researchers tested an AI approach that can learn individual vibration preferences in as few as 40 comparisons. (USC Viterbi News)

🛠️ Resource: Microsoft’s Haptics Design Guide - A practical guide to designing haptics in Windows, covering timing, intensity, interaction patterns, when feedback helps and when it gets annoying. (Microsoft Design)

🧠 Vibration Helps ADHD Motor Memory - In a study of 97 adults, low-intensity vibration during learning improved overnight retention of a motor task in participants with ADHD, but not in the control group. (Nature)

🎵 DualSense Haptics Get Better Linux Support - GE-Proton 11-4 improves DualSense haptics, controller audio and hotplugging for Linux gaming. (PC Guide)

🦾 E-Skin Gets the Senses, Haptics Come Next - WSU researchers developed customizable prosthetic “skin” for sensing pressure and temperature, with haptic feedback planned as a next step. (WSU News)

That’s all for this edition.

All Things Haptics exists because you keep reading, clicking and sharing, so thank you.

If you’re working on something interesting, I’d love to hear about it. Product, research project, open-source tool, experiment, or just a weird haptics story worth sharing, send it my way.

Until next time, keep the good vibrations coming.

Ashley Huffman
aka the Queen of Haptics 💜
Founder, All Things Haptics
Strategic Partnerships, TITAN Haptics
Co-Founder, Haptics Club
🐇 Find me on LinkedIn, X and Bsky

Hey Haptics Insider,

Welcome to the latest edition of All Things Haptics. This month is a little different.

Instead of looking at the latest news, this edition looks back at some of the stories that continued to surface through search engines like Google and Bing, along with AI search, long after they were first published.

Let’s dive in.

Apple’s shock resistant Taptic Engine

Apple patented improvements designed to make its Taptic Engine more resistant to shocks and impacts. It highlighted that companies continue investing in the reliability and durability of haptic hardware behind the scenes. (September 2025 via Substack)

Googles New Pixel Watch

Google refined the vibration system in the Pixel Watch 4 to improve tactile feedback. It demonstrated that meaningful advances in haptics often come from refining existing technology rather than introducing entirely new features.(September 2025 via Linkedin)

Volkswagen owners sue over touch controls

Volkswagen faced legal action related in part to its capacitive touch controls after years of criticism over usability. The story showed how interface design can have real consequences for safety, usability, and customer satisfaction. (August 2025 via Substack)

Framework’s haptic trackpad delays

Framework experienced manufacturing delays related to its haptic trackpad. The story served as a reminder that building and producing high-quality haptic hardware remains a complex engineering challenge. (June 2026 - Substack)

Rivian’s Haptic Halo controls

Rivian introduced steering wheel-mounted haptic controls to replace many traditional knobs and buttons. The story highlighted another approach to balancing digital interfaces with tactile feedback in modern vehicle design. (March 2026 via Substack)

bHaptics TactGlove DK3

bHaptics introduced an updated VR glove with palm haptics and improved wrist feedback. The story reflected continued progress in wearable haptics and the push toward more immersive XR experiences. (July 2026 via Good Virtual Reality)

Robots learning human touch

Daimon demonstrated robotic fingertip sensors capable of detecting and interpreting touch with much greater sensitivity. The story illustrated how advances in tactile sensing are helping robots interact with the physical world more effectively. (January 2026 via Substack)

Apple buzzes your head in Vision Pro

Apple patented a system for delivering tactile feedback through earbuds while using Vision Pro. The story explored how future haptic experiences may extend beyond devices we directly touch. (Twitter/X)

Final Thoughts

Looking back, these stories weren’t connected by a single company or product category. Together they answered the questions people in our industry ask every day. What’s new? What’s launching? What’s difficult to build? Which patents might shape the future? What are researchers working on?

More than anything, they show still there’s plenty of curiosity, opportunity, and room for improvement.

That’s all for this edition.

Thanks for reading! All Things Haptics exists because you keep clicking and sharing. So, thank you.

If you’re working on something interesting, I’d love to hear about it. Whether it’s a product, research project, open source tool, experiment, or a story worth sharing, send it my way.

Until next time,

Ashley Huffman
AKA The Queen of Haptics 💜
Founder, All Things Haptics
Strategic Partnerships, TITAN Haptics
Co-Founder, Haptics Club Podcast
Member, Haptics Industry Forum
Find me on LinkedIn, X and Bsky

Hi Haptics Insider,

The state of the world has a larger impact on the haptics industry than many of us like to admit. Layoffs have reshaped engineering teams, tariffs are changing manufacturing strategies, and geopolitical uncertainty continues to delay launches and rewrite product roadmaps.

Consumer electronics isn’t booming, and it isn’t falling apart either. Deloitte expects steady growth, while McKinsey continues to find that consumers are becoming more selective about where they spend. AI is everywhere, but consumers still expect products to deliver tangible improvements they can actually notice.

That shifts the conversation from adding more features to improving the experience people actually notice. Few technologies are better positioned to do that than haptics.

Here's what's worth knowing from the past couple of weeks in haptics. Let's jump right in.

Latest News

🎮 GTA VI doubles down on haptics - Rockstar is making full use of the DualSense with support for haptics, adaptive triggers, and the controller speaker in one of gaming's biggest releases.(Kitguru / GamesGG)

💻 Framework adds a haptic trackpad option - Framework is bringing a programmable haptic touchpad to its modular laptops, continuing the shift toward experience-focused hardware. (X)

🖱️ Keychron aims to ad haptic switches to gaming mouse - Keychron confirmed its upcoming MagOptic switches will include haptic feedback, with CEO Nick Xu saying, "If they want... the Logitech way, then they can try this one." (gamesGG / PC gamer)

🧤 bHaptics previews next generation gloves - bHaptics demonstrated new gloves at AWE that provide tactile feedback to individual fingers. Early hands-on reports suggest they make everyday VR interactions feel noticeably more natural. (tom’s Guide)

🚗 Rivian experiments with a haptic knob - Rivian is exploring a programmable SmartKnob that combines touchscreen flexibility with tactile force feedback.(MSN)

🚘 GM focuses on distracted driving - GM highlighted how haptic seat alerts are helping reduce distracted driving by delivering warnings without requiring drivers to look away from the road. (GM News)

🎮 Steam Frame specs begin to emerge - More details are surfacing around Steam Frame, including early specifications ahead of launch. For now, the official specifications simply list a haptic motor in each controller. (TechSK)

📱 An iPhone app that taps instead of talks - A new iPhone app uses gentle haptic patterns to support relaxation and mindfulness exercises. It explores how vibration alone can guide breathing and calm without requiring users to watch a screen. (DigitalTrends)

⚽ World Cup accessibility gets a boost - FIFA is introducing haptic boards at select World Cup 2026 matches for blind and low-vision fans. The devices translate live match action into tactile feedback and will be offered alongside audio descriptive commentary. (Qatar Tribune)

🚁 Touchwaves targets drone communication - Touchwaves has partnered with GA to develop haptic communication systems that deliver critical alerts through touch, reducing reliance on visual and audio cues. (Tectonic)

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Developer & Platform Updates

🛠️ Meta updates Haptics Studio - Meta released a Haptics Studio update with new tools and workflow improvements for developers. (Meta Developers)

🪟 Windows 11 haptics explained - Microsoft published a closer look at the design principles behind haptics in Windows 11, covering how tactile feedback can improve usability, confidence, and accessibility. (Microsoft Design)

🎮 DualSense haptics finally arrive on PC - A new DSX update expands native DualSense haptic support on PC without official Sony support. (PC Gamer)

Research & Papers

👣 Haptic insoles help restore balance - Researchers found that haptic insoles paired with a forearm band improved balance by substituting missing foot-pressure feedback, highlighting the potential of wearable haptics in rehabilitation.(TechXplore)

📄 80+ haptic actuator patents analyzed - A new analysis reviews more than 80 haptic actuator patents filed through 2026, offering a snapshot of emerging actuator designs, mechanisms, and applications. (Patsnap)

🎵 Why we feel music differently - New research explores how the brain combines sound and touch, offering further insight into haptics as part of multisensory perception. (Wistv)

♿ Engineering for accessibility - Researchers are developing new assistive technologies that use haptics to make everyday interactions more accessible, reinforcing the growing role of touch in inclusive design. (SCU Edu)

That’s all for this edition.

Every month, I come away convinced that haptics is showing up in more places than most people realize. Some ideas will fade. Others will quietly become the new normal. Either way, they’re worth paying attention to.

If you’re building something interesting, I’d love to hear about it. Products, research, open source projects, experiments, or stories I should be covering, send them my way.

If you missed the last edition, you’ll also find a roundup of upcoming conferences and events that are worth checking out.

Until next time,

Ashley Huffman
Founder, All Things Haptics
Strategic Partnerships, TITAN Haptics
Co-Founder, Haptics Club Podcast
Member, Haptics Industry Forum
Find me on LinkedIn, X and Bsky

Also known as the Queen of Haptics 💜

Hello Haptics Insider,

Welcome to the summer edition of All Things Haptics. That’s right, reading material for vacation, long weekends, or pretending you are not checking industry news by the pool.

This month, haptics showed up in a lot of places: Fortune 500 product signals, major industry events, automotive patents, accessibility projects, and a few curious ideas from researchers and student hackers.

Latest Updates

Interface Layer

🪟 Windows 11 Adds Haptic Signals - Windows 11 is testing haptic feedback for actions like snapping windows. Tiny feature. Big potential. (Windows Central)

🎮 Steam Controller Haptics Keep Getting Tweaked - Steam Beta includes controller updates and a Linux firmware fix related to hidden audio/haptics behavior. Plus, more easter eggs! (GamingonLinux / Happy Gamer)

👓 Meta Ray-Ban AI Gets More Physical? - A post from Dominique Wu looks at AI wearables and embodied interaction through Meta Ray-Bans. Smart glasses still need subtle ways to communicate things beyond visuals and audio. (Linkedin)

Cars & Controls

🏎️ Mercedes-AMG Adds Gear Cues - The 2027 AMG GT 4-Door Coupe uses vibration and tactile feedback to simulate traction interruption during gear changes. (AutoNews / Mercedes)

🏍️ Honda’s Emulated Clutch - Honda patented an electronic pseudo-clutch for its CR Electric Proto. Aiming for mechanical feel, minus mechanicals. (newsbytesapp)

🏎️ Ferrari Keeps Rethinking Touch Controls - A Ferrari patent explores tactile vehicle controls. The industry seems to keep circling back to buttons. (Massimo Galli on LinkedIn)

Events

Upcoming

• 🖥️ Computex 2026 - June 3–6 | Taipei - AI hardware, PCs, wearables, and interface tech. Haptics usually sneaks in somewhere. (Computex)

• 🤝 EuroHaptics 2026 - July 6–9 | Italy - One of the main haptics research conferences. (Eurohaptics)

Recent

• 🤖 Google I/O Hints at More Sensory AI Interfaces
  At Google I/O, haptics showed up alongside adaptive layouts, dynamic typography, and real-time AI interfaces. (LinkedIn)

• 🪩 Haptic Floor Installation Hits Montreal - An XR music demo explores gesture, sound, and tactile feedback. Instruments are slowly turning into environments. (TheMontrealOnline)

• 🎤 Haptics Meets Music and Performance - Creators are experimenting with tactile feedback in live XR performances, blending movement, sound, and physical sensation into the experience. (LinkedIn)

• 🎵 XR Music Creation Keeps Getting More Physical - An XR music demo explored gesture-based music creation with tactile feedback and spatial interaction. Air instruments, basically. (XR Initiative on LinkedIn)

• 🎪 Innovation Fest Experiments with Haptics and Interaction Design
  Innovation Fest featured interactive systems mixing movement, feedback, and responsive environments. (LinkedIn)

• ⭐ 2026 Rising Stars - Fierce Electronics released its list recognizing emerging people across sensing, electronics, and interface technologies. Tiny haptics appearance in the broader hardware world this year: me. Very nerdy honor (TITAN Haptics Blog)

Research

Accessibility & Assistive Tech

🦺 Haptic Vest for DeafBlind Everest Climber - A University of Toronto researcher developed a haptic vest to support a DeafBlind climber on Everest through vibration-based cues. (UToronto)

💊 VibraDose Adds a Wearable Reminder - VibraDose uses a wearable vibration cue for medication reminders. (LinkedIn)

🏥 Healthcare Projects Keep Adding Haptic Feedback - A student healthcare project uses vibration cues for patient monitoring and assistive care. (LinkedIn)

Student & Hacker Builds

📡 Hackers Adds Haptics to Awareness - Built during Major League Hacking, SixthSense uses wearable haptics to share environmental cues through touch. (DevPost)

🧤 Navigation Gloves Point the Way - An AIUB student project uses glove-based vibration cues for navigation and directional feedback. (LinkedIn)

🛠️ Arduino Build Adds a Bit of Buzz - A wearable Arduino project adds vibration feedback to a motion-based build. (LinkedIn)

Academic Research

🤖 Robots Learn Through Touch Too - A new visuo-tactile system uses haptic feedback for imitation learning. Basically, robots also need to feel around a bit. (ArXiv)

🧪 Researchers Explore Multimodal Haptic Perception - A new paper explores nanocomposite sensor arrays that can “pick up multiple tactile inputs at once.” (Advanced Online Library)

That’s all for this edition.

If you have a haptics project, paper, or experiment to share, send it my way. This newsletter exists to help grow the haptics industry.

Know someone in engineering, product development, or UX who would find this useful? Feel free to share it with them.

A special shout-out to my Haptics Club co-founders and past guests who are out there doing great work in haptics and UX. You can revisit past conversations on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Until next time,

Ashley

Ashley Huffman | Founder, All Things Haptics
Strategic Partnerships at TITAN Haptics
Co-Founder of Haptics Club Podcast
Follow me on LinkedIn, X and Bsky
Aka Queen of Haptics 💜

Hi Haptics Insider,

Welcome to the latest edition of All Things Haptics newsletter. This month’s edition looks at where haptics came from, where it is showing up today, and what researchers and companies are possibly building next.

Let’s dive right in!

The Past

Some of the OG use cases that spawned next generation devices and ideas.

📞 Bell Labs tactile systems (1970s) - Bell Labs researchers explored phones that could send touch-like signals, decades before vibration notifications became standard consumer UX. (Patents.Google)

🐕 Tail Wags the Dog (1977) - Developed by robotics researcher Susumu Tachi, MELDOG was an early robotic guide dog built to help visually impaired users navigate without relying on a living guide dog. A reminder that assistive haptics started long before smartphones and wearables. (Tachilab)

🦾 Early Robot Arms (1970s) - France’s Jean Vertut led the design of force‑feedback nuclear tele‑manipulators described as bilateral force‑feedback systems for hazardous‑material handling, where the operator’s hand felt the robot’s forces in real time. (CybereticZoo / Indigo PDF)

⌚ Tap-in Wristwatch (1995) - Inventor Geir Jensen sketched a wristwatch strap add-on that used tap patterns to identify callers. Thirty years later, we’re still talking about haptics as a “language,” and still arguing over the grammar. (Digi No/ Android Police)

📱 StarTAC Vibracall (1996) – Widely regarded as the first mainstream consumer haptic product, Motorola’s StarTAC brought vibration alerts to mass-market mobile phones and made tactile notifications a standard consumer expectation. (TITAN Haptics Blog)

The Present

The tech you can get your hands on now. Button mashers rejoice!

🪟 Windows 11 is testing haptics for common UI actions - Microsoft is testing vibration cues for window snapping, resizing, and other common UI actions. Hardware support is still limited, but it points to haptics becoming part of everyday desktop interaction. (Digital Trends / Windows Latest)

💻 New Thinkpad with Haptics Trackpad - Lenovo’s latest 14-inch ThinkPad adds a haptic trackpad option alongside its 120 Hz OLED panel, another sign that premium laptops are moving away from purely mechanical clicks. (Notebook Check)

🧩 Modular Laptop has Haptic Trackpad - Framework’s Laptop 16 update is mostly about OCuLink external GPU support, but its haptic trackpad keeps the broader laptop trend going: thinner designs, fewer moving parts, and software-tuned clicks. (HotHardware)

🎮 New Steam Controller - Valve’s upcoming controller brings back Steam Deck-like dual haptic pads for mouse-like thumb input, suggesting the company still sees room to rethink traditional controller layouts. (Gizmodo / Polygon )

🚀 Housemarque teases DualSense Haptics - Housemarque is already calling out “very special” DualSense haptic use in Saros ahead of launch, a reminder that controller feel is now part of how studios market gameplay. (GameSpot / Wired)

🏎 Ferrari’s Haptic-touch Reversal - Ferrari’s haptic-touch backlash is getting louder, with leadership reportedly acknowledging cost and packaging pressures behind touch controls as the company shifts back toward physical buttons and retrofits. (Military.com)

❓Is the Haptic Touch Experiment Over? - The Truth About Cars asks whether automakers are backing away from touch and haptic controls. The better question may be whether meh haptics ruined the experiment before better implementations had a chance. (Thetruthaboutcars)

The Future

What companies are working on behind the scenes, and the things researchers are tinkering with.

🎮 Sony Wants you to Bop It? (Patent)- Sony patented a deformable controller with twist-and-pinch buttons, pointing toward game input that feels less like pressing plastic and more like manipulating an object. (TBreak)

💞 Haptics in Mobile Shopping (Study) - An insightful study looks at how haptic feedback can shape mobile shopping in AR, especially for products where touch still matters. (Wiley)

😴 Sleeping Beauty - Nottingham researchers developed a vibrating smart pillow sleeve for deaf users, part of a broader push toward embedding haptics into everyday products rather than treating accessibility as separate hardware. (Liamodell)

👓 DIY Smart Glasses - An AI-powered smart glasses project uses sound and vibration to help blind users interpret surroundings, hinting at a future where multimodal wearable guidance becomes cheaper and more accessible. (Startupedia)

🍎 Apple Head Mounted Display with Haptics? - Patent 12,597,219 hints at haptic integrations for Apple’s future headset ambitions.

🤖 High-Fiving Robots - A paper explores how people expect soft robotic touch to feel during imagined high-fives, offering clues for future social and companion robotics. (Nature)

🦾 Feeling the Stretch - Researchers are studying how synchronized visual and haptic cues can make users feel ownership over elongated virtual limbs, pushing embodiment experiments further into weird territory. (Computer Org)

⚡Shock Me Back into Shape - Researchers developed a lightweight full-body electrical stimulation suit for haptic feedback and therapeutic applications, blending wearable rehab tech with immersive feedback systems. (Nature)

Thanks for Reading

That’s it for this edition. If you have not already, you can subscribe, support as a VIP, or share to help spread the word. And if you spot something worth sharing, send it my way. This newsletter is here to support you and help grow the industry.

Yours truly,

Ashley Huffman

Founder, All Things Haptics
Strategic Partnerships at TITAN Haptics
Co-Founder of Haptics Club Podcast
Follow me on LinkedIn, X and Bsky

Hey Haptics Insider,

Welcome to the latest edition of All Things Haptics. This issue covers product releases, teardown coverage, auto reporting, and recent research to highlight what is worth paying attention to in the haptics industry.

Inside, there’s the MacBook Neo trackpad, Rivian’s scroll-wheel, and a seriously packed resources section, including newer studies on robotics, rehab, VR, and even hunger perception.

We’re here to educate, entertain, and save your time and eyeballs from the rampant “haptics” articles that are just AI slop. So, let’s dive right in!

Top Stories & Releases

💻 Acer goes Big on Haptics - The new Acer Swift 16 AI pairs its OLED touchscreen with what Acer says is the world’s largest haptic trackpad. (CanBuyorNot)

🚘 Rivian Adds Haptic Steering Controls - Rivian says its R2 “Haptic Halo Wheels” let drivers navigate vehicle functions through tactile steering wheel controls, with a form factor that looks like a mouse scroll wheel. (iPhoneinCanada / YouTube)

💻 MacBook Neo Drops Force Touch - iFixit’s teardown shows that the new MacBook Neo drops Apple’s Force Touch system and brings back a mechanical trackpad, the first MacBook to do so since 2015. (iFixIt)

🏎️ Ferrari Admits Touch Went Too Far - After owner backlash, Ferrari is offering retrofit steering wheels that replace all haptic controls except the start button with physical buttons. (Car and Driver)

🎮 PSVR2 on PC has more Buzz - Road to VR reports that hackers have effectively “jailbroken” PSVR 2 on PC, claiming they’ve unlocked headset haptics and eye-tracking that Sony’s official PC support leaves disabled. (RoadtoVR)

🚗 Audi brings Buttons Back - Audi’s updated A6 e-tron and Q6 e-tron restore physical steering-wheel controls, another move away from touch-heavy cabin inputs. (Car and Driver/ Yahoo)

📱 Nothing Updates the Feel - Nothing’s latest Phone (3) software update adds “improved vibration and haptic feedback stability in certain scenarios.” (GizmoChina)

🎮 Razer Fills in the Haptic Gaps - Razer’s new Dynamic Haptics system combines developer-authored Sensa HD effects with Audio-to-Haptics, designed to “fill in the quieter gameplay moments between big scripted events.” (TechPowerUp)

🤘 Metallica at the Sphere with Haptics - Sad but True, a recent Metallica Sphere guide mentions haptic wristbands alongside the venue’s better-known vibrations seats. (MensJournal)

New Studies & Resources

🎻 Robot-mediated Haptic Feedback Outperforms Vision - A study found robot-mediated haptic feedback improved violin duo coordination more than vision alone, with the best results coming from combined audio, visual, and haptic input. (Science Robotics)

🦾 The Challenges of Haptics in Robotics - A quick interview with Stanford engineering professor Allison Okamura on what still makes haptics in robotics difficult, from technical integration to making feedback genuinely useful. (YouTube)

🏃 Power-up or Placebo-Powered? -A blinded crossover trial found that a haptic patch produced statistically significant improvements in knee extension and flexion in college athletes, with the greatest improvement reported at 70 to 80 minutes of wear. (PubMed)

🥽 Haptics improve Precision in VR Rehab - A new Scientific Reports paper found that wearable haptic guidance in immersive VR improved movement precision and reduced variability during rehabilitation tasks. (Scientific Reports)

🫃 Gut-based Haptics Alter Hunger Perception - A CHI 2026 paper reports that stomach-applied audio-haptic feedback changed perceived hunger and fullness, and in one condition increased how much water people drank. (Arxiv)

🎓 Haptics Class, Actual Output - This Innsbruck haptics class turned out force-feedback games, rehab concepts, and some properly hands-on tactile experiments. I love a good hackery project! (UIBK.AT)

📱 iPhone Haptics, Loved and Rationed - Cult of Mac makes the case for turning keyboard buzz on for the feel, while CNET puts it back on the battery-saving chopping block. (Cnet / Cult of Mac)

Thanks for Reading

That’s it for this edition. More soon, including a special edition on newly published patents.

If you have not already, you can subscribe, support as a VIP, or share to help spread the word. And if you spot something worth sharing, send it my way. This newsletter is here to support you and help grow the industry.

Yours truly,

Ashley Huffman

Founder, All Things Haptics
Strategic Partnerships at TITAN Haptics
Co-Founder of Haptics Club Podcast
Follow me on LinkedIn, X and Bsky

Dear Haptics Insider,

Over the past few years, a set of overlapping technical predictions about haptics surfaced in conversations with researchers, founders, and product leaders building real systems. Different domains, different constraints, but a surprising amount of alignment. Many of those conversations happened through Haptics Club, a podcast centered on haptics.

This post revisits those predictions and places them alongside what entered the market.

1. Spatial Computing: Hands vs. Controllers

The industry is currently divided on whether the future of spatial computing should rely on bare hands or dedicated hardware.

Forecast

In February 2023, Tom Carter, CEO of Ultraleap, a company focused on hand-tracking technology for XR, stated that hand tracking had become “table stakes” and described the use of hands as the “correct interface for that computing platform.”

Later in 2023, Denny Unger, CEO of Cloudhead Games, a VR game studio, stated that relying solely on hand tracking removes a primary sense organ, touch, from the digital experience. He added that 90% of the development community rely on tactile buttons.

In Market

The Apple Vision Pro launched in 2024 with a controllerless, hand-tracking-only interface, establishing a hands-only interaction model for a commercial spatial computing platform. (Apple)

In parallel, companies such as DoublePoint are using neural networks on smartwatches to enable wrist-based spatial input with tactile feedback (Doublepoint).

In 2025, Samsung’s Galaxy XR launched with separate controllers available, combining hand tracking with conventional input in a commercial spatial computing headset. (Samsung)

Source

• HC Episode #36 - Jan 20, 2023 - Making digital worlds feel more human, with Tom Carter (00:49)

• HC Episode #46 - Oct 23, 2023 - Haptics in VR – Live with Denny Unger (08:16)

Read more

Dear Haptics Insider,

CES wrapped earlier this month. Looking back, there was a lot of haptics tech on show, but it wasn’t concentrated in one place. It was the kind of tech you had to walk hall to hall to test out.

The Consumer Technology Association, the organizer behind CES, even released its own short video this year to define what “haptics” is and highlight examples from the show floor.

Below is a categorized snapshot of where haptics showed up across the show. Let’s jump in.

Robotics & Industrial Haptics

🧤 WEART TouchDIVER Pro - A haptic glove with thermal feedback for VR. Temperature continues to show up as the “next layer” at CES. (YouTube)

🤖 Daimon Robotics DM-EXton2 - A teleoperation system built around haptic feedback for remote robotic control and data capture. This is haptics as precision and trust, not immersion. (PR Newswire)

🖱️ Haply Robotics Controllers - CES Innovation Honoree devices delivering high-fidelity force feedback for physical AI, teleoperation, and 3D design workflows. (Haply)

Accessibility & Wearables

⌚ Hapware Aleye Band - A wristband that translates facial expressions into distinct vibration patterns. (TechStars)

🎶 Tactus Music Garment - A vest wearable that lets users experience music through distributed vibrations on the body. (Youtube)

🕶️ .lumen Glasses for the Blind - Innovation Award winner using directional haptic cues to replicate key guide-dog functions. (Reuters)

Consumer & Gaming Gear

🪑 Razer Project Madison - Razer’s Sensa HD ecosystem extends into a gaming chair that maps spatial audio to multi-zone haptic feedback. (Home Crux)

💍 RingConn Gen 3 - A smart ring with a built-in vibration motor for health alerts. (Android Headlines)

📱 Solver Magnetic Buttons - A magnetic iPhone snap on that adds two programmable haptic buttons. A workaround for people who still want real clicks. (Mashable)

🎮 TITAN Haptics Unveils Echo - Showcased at the GameSir booth, this is a completely transparent motor lets users see the internal magnetic mass moving in real-time. (Reddit)

Thanks for Reading

That’s it for this edition. Stay tuned for another update soon, including a special end-of-year issue.

If you have not already, you can subscribe, go VIP, or share to help spread the word. And if you spot something worth sharing, send it my way. This newsletter exists to support you and grow the industry.

Yours truly,

Ashley Huffman

Founder, All Things Haptics
Strategic Partnerships at TITAN Haptics
Co-Founder of Haptics Club Podcast
Follow me on LinkedIn, X and Bsky

Dear Haptics Insider,

This edition of All Things Haptics looks back at the stories and themes that shaped 2025, along with a roundup of what landed in the past month.

What stood out this year wasn’t a single breakthrough. It was repetition. The same product patterns, feedback strategies, and use cases kept resurfacing across releases, patents, and reader interest. Wearables became more intentional. Interfaces were reworked or upgraded. Patents often revealed more than the press.

Before we dive in, thanks for reading and sharing ATH this year. It’s helped bring more eyes to haptics and more momentum to the people building it. I’m excited to keep it going in 2026. Onward!

Latest News

🛌 Sleepy Haptics - The new Woojer bed mat blends sound and vibration to make relaxation something you lie on, not interact with. (T3 / Verge)

🎛️Closed-loop Haptics in the Dashboard - Cirrus Logic’s new closed-loop driver chips aim to deliver more consistent haptics across automotive touchscreens, steering wheels, seats, and other in-cabin controls. (EPT)

🤢Apple Adds Cues to Reduce Motion Sickness - Apple’s iOS 26 update improves on-screen cues to help reduce motion sickness for iPhone or iPad users in cars, buses or trains. (Mashable)

🎮 Tactile Tension as Horror Design - New game Little Nightmares III uses tactile cues to build tension as part of its horror design language. (Super Jump Magazine)

🛠️ A Shell that Rumbles - DIY and experimental haptics turns a nautilus shell into a full-blown speaker. (Instructables)

📱Best Smartphone Haptics in 2025? - TechGenyz compares current smartphones, highlighting where haptics meaningfully improve interaction and where they fall flat. (Tech Genyz)

🖱️Feel your Way Through 3D Models - Haply Robotics and Geomagic Freeform unveiled co-developed haptic sculpting tools to let designers physically feel digital surfaces as they model. (Fox40)

🖼️ Academic Research on Visuo-Haptic Displays - Research from UCSB explores display technology that pairs visual output with tactile feedback. (goodmenproject / ucsb)

Top Trends of 2025

The top five haptics trends this year, based on volume of releases, research, patents, and reader interest.

🧤 Wearables & Glove-Based Haptics Kept Resurfacing

Gloves, finger-based input, rings, and exosuits showed up repeatedly this year, often outside pure entertainment contexts. Early in the year, interest clustered around open source gloves and VR training. By mid-year and into November, coverage expanded into applied checkpoints and full-body systems.

Why this matters: Wearable haptics didn’t scale this year, but it refused to disappear, resurfacing across armbands and assistive systems wherever precise, eyes-free feedback was needed.

Seen in: February (DoGlove), March (MagicGate × Weart), May (shape-shifting origami devices), August (TSA haptic VR checkpoint), November (HaptX full-body suit).

🧠 Shift from Force to Feel — UX Philosophy Changed

Coverage this year moved away from raw intensity toward timing, intent, and interpretation. Stories focused on vibration as support rather than spectacle, emphasizing emotional meaning and context-aware feedback over stronger or more complex effects. This showed up across phones, games, and everyday interfaces, including trackpads, where subtle, well-timed haptics mattered more than force.

Why this matters: This shift reframes haptics from an effect to a design tool. Timing, intention, and restraint are starting to show up more as product-supporting features, not just add-on gimmicks.

Seen in: March (Pixel vibration critique), September (emotional tuning), October (analog + haptics mouse).

📜 Patents Became a Key Insight Surface

Patents offered clues about where companies might be heading, especially in the absence of product announcements. ATH editions tracked filings for smart rings, input surfaces, speaker-touchpad systems, controller tension mechanics, and tactile rendering architectures.

Why this matters: The most revealing work often happened quietly in filings rather than features. These pointed to incremental extensions of existing products, as well as early attempts by large players to carve out niche territory.

Seen in: February (smart ring and input-surface patents, Googles’ touch and gesture feedback), April (Microsoft’s speaker-touchpad), September (Huawei’s re-generative haptics), November (Apple’s shock-resistant haptic engine).

🧪 Niche & Nontraditional Use Cases Outperformed

Less conventional use cases drove strong interest, especially where haptics supported soft interfaces, accessibility, or specific applications like hydration sensing and precision tasks in robotics. Standouts included soft button research, pen-based tools for XR, and interfaces for musicians. These smaller stories routinely outperformed big-brand launches in terms of reader attention.

Why this matters: Haptics proved most valuable when feedback clarity solved a concrete user problem, not when it was added for effect.

Seen in: February (hospitality VR), April (soft buttons), August (hydration wearables), September (bandage-like interface), November (Tap-Tap for blind musicians).

🍎 Apple Was the Quiet Center of Attention

While Apple publicly emphasized accessibility, ATH readers clicked more on stories tied to entertainment and immersion. Vision Pro-adjacent use cases, movie trailer and music-triggered feedback, next-gen haptic motor patents, and filings for smart rings ranked among the most-read topics all year.

Why this matters: Even as Apple said less about haptics in iPhone launches, reader interest in its patents and product details remained high. That level of attention suggests Apple’s moves still carry weight across the industry.

Seen in: January (Vision Pro), February –October (ring/touchpad/actuator patents), May (music-triggered haptics), September (Taptic Engine patent).

Goodbye 2025!

That’s all folks. If you’re wondering where AI is, it just didn’t show up much in haptics this year. Same goes for humanoid robots, drone deliveries, and bioengineering. They made plenty of headlines, but not much impact here… yet.

I’m looking forward to what 2026 brings and will be here to share it with you. If you’ll be at CES and want to compare notes, share a demo, chat about what TITAN Haptics is up to, or just nerd out on haptics, let me know.

Yours truly,

Ashley Huffman

Founder, All Things Haptics
Strategic Partnerships at TITAN Haptics
Co-Founder of Haptics Club
Follow me on LinkedIn, X and Bsky

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Hi Haptics Insider,

A big portion of the haptics news cycle this month is dominated by sales and discounts. Like a flood, buzzwords galore.

That’s not the whole story.

From the return of the Steam Controller to Windows quietly rolling out haptics, and patents hinting at fluid-shifting gamepads and smart rings with tactile response, there’s more going on than the headlines suggest.

That’s why All Things Haptics is here. Let’s jump right in.

Latest News

🕴️ Full Body VR Haptx - Ten years in the making, HaptX just unveiled a full-body VR haptics system with force feedback, targeted at industrial use. (Forbes)

🎮 Steam Controller Haptics: Valve’s new Frame controller keeps the dual trackpads, adds analog sticks, and includes haptics in the grips. (PC Mag)

🎸 Guitar Hero - RKD’s Gibson SG controller brings back the clicky strum bar. Simple haptics make each pluck feel more physical. (IGN)

🪟 Windows Gets Haptics (Quietly) - If you blinked, you might have missed Microsoft’s quiet but broad move into haptics.

• Nov 7, 2025 — A new Windows 11 Insider build goes live. Testers spot early, disabled settings for haptic feedback in trackpads and mice.

• Nov 10 — Several outlets, including Windows Central, flag the “hidden” feature. Coverage describes subtle haptics for snapping windows and other UI interactions — similar to macOS or iOS.

• Nov 17 — Microsoft formally confirms the changes in its official blog post, as part of the 25H2 update stream.

• Nov 25 — Pocket-lint wraps it up, framing it as a broader initiative covering haptics for pens, trackpads, and mice.
  

New Patents in Play

🔋 Huawei Technologies Co Ltd - A haptic actuator uses its moveable energy storage element to both produce haptic vibrations (actuation mode) and recharge itself from ambient vibrations (power generation mode). (Google Patents)

🖱️ Logitech Europe S.A. - A haptic element that is pre-loaded against the button to ensure its keyplate is seamlessly flush with the housing when at rest. (Justia 12481364 / Temp)

😵 Sony Interactive Entertainment - A method to detect early signs of motion sickness in VR and then providing a preemptive warning, like vibrations. (USPTO 12481353 / Temp)

✋ Sony Interactive Entertainment - A gesture-to-input system that could layer in haptic cues to confirm when a gesture is recognized or when an action can’t be performed. (20250352908 / Temp)

🌊 Sony Interactive Entertainment - A game accessory that shifts fluid inside itself to subtly change its feel and boost immersion. (Justia 20250352892)

🔧 BOE Technology - A piezoelectric component designed to reduce misalignment and improve transfer accuracy when mounting it onto a glass substrate. (USPTO 12484451 / Temp)

📡 Apple - An electronic device generates tactile (haptic) output that changes characteristics based on the device’s orientation relative to a nearby object. (USPTO 20250356743 / Temp)

💍 Apple - A smart ring that senses touch on its band and adds tactile feedback to confirm actions. (USPTO 20250355514/ Temp)

📡 Joby Aero, Inc. - A system where the device uses haptics to translate abstract spatial data (like distance or orientation) and digital processes (like data sharing) into a physical sensation you can feel. (USPTO 20250356767 / Temp)

🧠 Accenture Global Solutions Limited - An AI tool that mixes survey data, facial cues, voice tone, and even haptic responses to help designers build more inclusive products. (USPTO 12475436 / Temp)

🧬 Cognixion Corporation - A BCI-enabled AR headset that reads your bio-signals and feeds back to you through visuals, audio, or simple vibration cues. (USPTO 20250349091 / Temp)

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Resources

📱 Texture on Screens: A Northwestern team developed a bandage-like device to simulate texture on touchscreens. (Northwestern / PubMed)

🎵 Haptics in Music Accessibility: A new wearable device is helping blind and low-vision musicians play together. (Carleton University)

🦿 Wearables That Boss You Around - Pedro Lopes shows how future wearables won’t just track your body but guide it, nudge it and sometimes move it. (UChicago)

📈 Haptics Market Forecast: Growth is expected in wearables, automotive, and metaverse applications through 2032. Hopefully by then we’ll also have hoverboards! (GlobeNewswire)

🎭 Haptic Illusions - Japan’s NTT found a new haptic illusion where changing the spacing between touch points makes the same motion feel faster or slower. (NTT)

📊 Feeling Frequencies - A breakdown of how different tactile frequencies affect perception, with examples from audio, haptics, and everyday design. (Titan Haptics)

🎥 Haptic Visibility - Not ‘haptics’ but the art of feel in movie production. Older films felt “touchable” as they had deep focus and real sets. (Open Culture)

Thanks for reading

That’s it for this edition. Stay tuned for another update soon, including a special end-of-year issue.

If you have not already, you can subscribe, go VIP, or share to help spread the word. And if you spot something worth sharing, send it my way. This newsletter exists to support you and grow the industry.

Yours truly,

Ashley Huffman

Founder, All Things Haptics
Strategic Partnerships at TITAN Haptics
Co-Founder of Haptics Club Podcast
Follow me on LinkedIn, X and Bsky

Dear Haptics Industry Insider,

Welcome to the latest edition of All Things Haptics, your source for haptics industry news. This month I’ve got XR, cars, rings, controllers, and a few spooky haptic Halloween treats. 🎃

Before we jump in, a fun highlight: “What if we just applied haptics to everything?” That’s from gaming writer Alex Rowe, and it’s exactly the kind of line we like to see. It shows that product designers are starting to understand that haptic nuance is critical if you want consumers to care. It also signals that the geeks are finally catching on to what we’ve been aiming for all along.

Time to dig in.

Latest News

🖐️ Samsung’s XR, Haptics Not Included - The just-launched XR headset leans on hand-tracking by default, while optional controllers (with haptics) will run you $250 each. (9 to 5 Google)

🖱️ Trackpad Escaped - The Hyperspace Trackpad Pro, a standalone, haptic-infused trackpad, just crushed its Kickstarter goal. (TechRadar)

🎮 Razer Raiju V3 Pro - Razers new gaming controller sounds like a button-masher’s dream of clicky, “mouse-like face buttons and adaptive triggers.” (PC Games / The Verge)

🚗 Audi’s Concept C Gets Touchy - Audi’s new all-electric sports car concept features a hideable 10.4-inch display, and haptic controls on the steering wheel and center console. (emobilityplus / carsifu)

💍 Rollme Vibe Smart Ring - A haptic-enabled smart ring designed for discreet notifications and gesture control. (NotebookCheck / GizmoChina)

🤖 Haply Robotics & MedAcuity - The hardware and software collaboration aims to “develop higher-fidelity haptic capabilities for use in medical, surgical, and robotic teleoperation applications.” (EIN Presswire)

👆 Mobase + UltraSense Expand Partnership - The companies are rolling out a solid-state touch-bar HMI for premium cabin. It also aligns with Euro NCAP 2026 guidance favoring tactile controls to cut eyes-off-road time. (PR Newswire)

🕹️ Battlefield and Don’t Starve Get Haptic Treatment — Battlefield 6’s latest update adds tuned haptic feedback for explosions, projectiles, and vehicles, while Don’t Starve Together launches on PS5 with DualSense haptics. (PSU / Dextero)

Halloween Threads

⚰️ Buttons Crawl Back from the Grave - After years of “touchscreen overload,” automakers are reviving physical buttons and haptic surfaces for safety and comfort. (ADT Media/ Drivespark)

🧠 Frankenstein’s Fun Side - A soft, full-body haptic exosuit driven by a motor-pulley system. (Hackaday)

⚠️ Warning Tape but Make It Haptic -Tape-Tics is a vibrotactile system that uses smart tape with vibration motors to add haptics to stuff. (Hackster.io)

🎃 Marketing is Tricky - Apples iOS 26.1 Beta 4 adds a setting let’s you disable haptic feedback for call connections and disconnections. One article frames it as part of “enhanced personalization” and the other “reduces unnecessary vibrations during phone use.” (Zoombangla/ MacObserver)

🧟‍♀️ Shake Like the Undead - As a throwback to the 1950s, the latest get-fit-quick trend is vibration workouts. (Cnet)

👻 Ghost of the Past - This month marks the 59th anniversary of The Beach Boys’ hit Good Vibrations. (AmercianSongWriter)

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Resources

📱 How to Use Haptics in Flutter - A community-made guide for Google’s open-source UI toolkit, showing when and how to trigger haptics effectively. (Medium)

🎧 DualSense on PC? - Developers are driving the controller’s haptics on Windows via DSX over Bluetooth. (Notebook Check)

🎚️ How Frequencies Shape Our Haptic Experience - A breakdown of how different frequency ranges affect tactile perception. (TITAN Haptics Blog)

🤸 Full-Body Tracking for Learning - A wearable network for full-body motion and haptic feedback paired with deep learning. (Nature)

🎮 Seven Trends That Defined Play 2025 - PlayStation highlights “haptics as a design language,” noting that triggers and vibration taught better than tooltips. Players learned by feel, not menus. (PSU)

🤝 For the Love of Haptic (Standards) - Not everyone knows there’s a Haptics Industry Forum actively working on standardization across the field. It’s a quiet but important step toward more consistency in how haptics are developed and deployed. (HIF)

Thanks for reading

That is it for this edition. Another special edition is on the way around haptics hype and what’s dominating the press. If you missed the last one, check it out here on AI-generated haptics content. Spoiler, it’s spooky. 💀

If you have not already, you can subscribe, go paid, or share to help spread the word. And if you spot something worth sharing, send it my way. This newsletter exists to support you and grow the industry.

Yours truly,

Ashley Huffman

Founder, All Things Haptics
Strategic Partnerships Lead at TITAN Haptics
Co-Founder , Haptics Club Podcast
Follow me on LinkedIn, X and Bsky

Hi Haptics Industry Insider,

Welcome to the latest edition of All Things Haptics, your go to resource for what is happening across the industry.

Summer is out and fall is in but haptics never slows down. To make it easy to nerd out, this edition is sorted by category including phones, wearables, XR, cars, research and the odd everyday gadget.

There is a l…

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Hey Haptics Industry Insider,

Welcome to the latest edition of the All Things Haptics newsletter. This month in haptics the stakes feel higher. Robots are chasing human dexterity, drivers are suing carmakers over bad buttons, and reviewers are calling out phones for cheap buzz. At the same time, research labs and startups are pushing new ideas into weara…

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Hey Haptics Insider,

Welcome to the latest edition of All Things Haptics.

This month we’re diving into everything from superhero prosthetics and foldable phones to flipper feedback and joystick nostalgia. Whether you're into the weird, the useful, or the quietly brilliant, there’s plenty to explore.

You’ll also find a special section called…

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Greetings Haptics Insider,

Welcome to the latest edition of All Things Haptics. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock or burying your head in beach sand, you’ve seen the haptics headline of the month.

Apple’s new F1 haptic movie trailer was everywhere. It uses haptics to make your iPhone vibrate in syn…

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Dear Haptics Industry Insider,

For years, the bane of haptics was bad marketing. The tech was as cool and effective as it could be at the time, and marketing teams did a piss poor job at telling the story. Not every company, but often the loudest ones.

Companies promised hyper-real raindrops, simulating grass underfoot and ocean waves. But when it lande…

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Hey Haptic Industry Insider,

Welcome to the latest edition of All Things Haptics. This month I’ve rounded up the most interesting releases, product tweaks, research highlights, and patent activity across the haptics world

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Hey Haptics Industry Insider,

In haptics, many technologies and ideas have been around for years. But, new ways to see and apply them keep emerging. The people reading this newsletter are part of the foundation others will stand on.

This edition rounds up both the shiny new developments and deeper resources to keep expanding your thinking.

Let’s dive in.

News You Can Feel

📱 Pixel Imperfect Haptics? - A recent Pixel update left some users complaining about weaker, less satisfying vibration feedback during typing and notifications. (Phone Arena)

🚗Boreas Releases New Automotive Module - The company announced a low-power piezoelectric haptic driver designed for automotive controls, highlighting improvements in efficiency and responsiveness. (EP&T)

🛠️ Fine-Tune Haptic Feedback - New TITAN Haptics (my team!) development kit includes a modifiable Carlton motor and swappable materials to study how different surfaces affect actuator sound, strength, and feel. (All About Circuits)

☀️Solar Activity Linked to Random Haptic Events? - Haptic “ghost taps” on Galaxy phones turned out not to be space weather at all but an intentional One UI brightness cue when the screen hits 100 percent in bright light.. (SamMobile)

🤝 Cirque and Sensel Partner on Haptic Touchpads - The companies announced a strategic agreement to advance haptic ForcePad technology for laptops and other interactive devices. (8NewsNow)

🔓 Subtle Haptics on iPhone unlock -A hidden iOS setting allows a soft haptic pulse after Face ID authentication, recently highlighted by tech media but not officially announced by Apple. (L&A Magazine)

🏭Collaboration on Industrial Haptics - Promtek, IREROBOT, and Staffordshire University announced a partnership to explore haptic feedback in industrial robotics. The collaboration focuses on improving material handling processes where precision and safety are critical. (FoodTechBiz)

📚 Book on 50 Years of Gaming Controllers - Highly anticipated (mostly by me) Joysticks to Haptics: A Visual History of Video Game Controllers. Pre-order currently. Releases in July 2025. (GameSpot)

Devices, Design and Deep Dives

🕹️ Top 8 Best Uses of Haptic Feedback in Games - You’ll find “perfectly timed haptics, weapon-specific haptics, and the tension of a bow string.” (GamerRant)

🎮Wearable VR Haptics Gets Lighter - Northwestern university researchers unveiled a thin, wireless VR haptic system that sticks to the skin and delivers touch sensations using tiny electrical signals. (Techi)

🧬Mapping the Brain’s Touch System - Researchers created the first detailed molecular map of the somatosensory neurons responsible for touch, offering new insights into how the nervous system processes haptic information. (Science Org)

🔊Microspeaker-Based Soft Buttons Deliver Haptic Feedback - Researchers at the University of Illinois developed a haptic “soft button” using a microspeaker hydraulically coupled to a silicone membrane. (Hackaday)

✋ Delivering a Pinch, Stretch and Tap - Researchers at Northwestern University developed a small actuator that applies both normal and shear forces to the skin. The work explores new ways to produce pinching, stretching, and twisting sensations. (IEEE Spectrum)

🎤 Bridging Haptics and Design - Thomas Müller speaks at Umeå Institute of Design to express how haptics can better support product design and user experience. “Why don't our office chairs vibrate when we get an email?” (UMU)

New Frontiers in Research

🧠 Body Position Shapes Haptic Size Perception - A study shows that blind individuals can accurately perceive object length by combining multiple touch cues — matching the performance of blindfolded sighted participants. (Nature)

🧤 Stretchy Sensors, Sharper Touch - Researchers developed a soft, stretchable e-skin that can localize touch with millimeter precision, opening doors for more sensitive prosthetics and robotics. (Science Advances)

🧵Exploring Multisensory Wearable Haptics - Researchers mapped out different haptic sensations and wearable formats, with detailed diagrams showing how future devices could combine pressure, stretch, and temperature feedback. (TechXplore)

🏗️How Touch Builds Structure - Researchers found that the brain uses a continuity skeleton to connect local touch signals into coherent object shapes, separating global form from fine texture. (Nature)

🛡️ Premium Section: Deeper Trends and Signals 🛡️
(Exclusive for paid subscribers)

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Welcome to your monthly All Things Haptics, the newsletter where touch tech gets a little extra texture. You’ll find a mix of cutting-edge research, product news, standards updates, and the occasional haptic-enabled bed.

Spring is when everything starts waking up again. Feels like the right time to loosen things up a bit. This…

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Greetings Haptics Insider,

Welcome to the February edition of All Things Haptics. The world feels a little chaotic, and we are still coming down from the energy of CES, but 2025 is already shaping up to be a big year for haptics. This month, we are looking at the latest patents, industry trends, and how consumers actually feel about haptics right now.

The…

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