Haptics: How We’re Bringing Sensory-Enhanced Video Experiences to the Home

As audio stimulates our sense of hearing and video engages our sense of sight, innovations in haptic technology are tapping into new avenues of communication to convey the sense of touch. InterDigital's research and innovation in new media codecs and standards, particularly those related to haptic media coding and delivery, will bring new depths and sensations to our video-based experiences.

Haptics are far from a new technology - in fact, a recent white paper from InterDigital and Futuresource found that there are 4.1 billion haptic-equipped devices in use and on the market today. There are several ways to deliver haptic feedback, but at their most fundamental level, haptic technologies can translate audio into low frequency signals to produce vibrations or use pre-defined haptic patterns to stimulate our tactile receptors. Advanced haptics stimulate kinesthetic reactions related to our muscles, body position and movement by applying resistive force and motion to make experiences more realistic. Of the billions of haptic-equipped devices today, the vast majority are smartphones, but they are increasingly joined by an array of gaming, wearable, and entertainment-enhancing devices equipped to receive and translate haptic information and feedback.

The emergence of immersive cinema experiences has revealed tantalizing applications for haptic technology. Companies like 4DX, MX4D, and D-BOX offer specially designed platforms with proprietary haptic technology to deliver effects like a light touch, motion, temperature, vibrations and other tactile sensations. This year saw the debut of the environmental thriller "Twisters," which was shown in haptic-enhanced, 4DX theaters around the world. From their haptic-equipped seats, audience members could experience tactile sensations synchronized with the movie script, including gusts of wind aligned with the visuals of an approaching storm, a rumble in their chair synced with the sounds of thunder, and the spray of rainfall in the middle of a tornado, immersing viewers deeper in the movie experience.

Bringing The Immersive Cinema Experience Home

Beyond the haptic-enhanced experiences delivered through proprietary devices at immersive theaters, device innovation and standards are helping to bring immersive cinematic experiences to home theaters.

Today's haptic device innovation can be experienced in the ways haptic feedback is more attuned to the areas of the body where the device is being worn, or the circumstances under which the device is being used. For example, a haptic glove might deliver different sensory responses to individual fingers, the palm, and back of the hand to imitate a more natural tactile experience of holding an object or climbing a terrain, while other devices could produce sensations of pressure, texture, or even heat to increase immersion in virtual scenarios.

Companies like Razer offer haptic-enabled gaming chairs that communicate haptic feedback, alongside high-definition video and audio, throughout the gameplay. Other companies offer purpose-built haptic-enabled home theatre furniture or even wireless, motorized haptic actuator kits that can be installed within a home, each leveraging proprietary haptic technology to deliver unique haptic experiences.

From the earliest haptic gaming vests that entered the market in the mid-1990s to state-of-the-art headsets and wearable devices that increase immersivity for gamers, body-worn haptic devices are increasingly available for individual users, and with the implementation of standards, haptic-enhanced experiences could be delivered and made interoperable across viewers worldwide.

The Role of Standards

Haptic technology augments our traditional wireless and video communications with new depth of sensations and unlocks new levels of immersion within our media and entertainment experiences. In tandem with industry innovations in haptic devices and opportunities for more haptic-enhanced content, researchers at InterDigital are leading critical standards discussions and foundational efforts to establish delivery mechanisms to share haptic-enhanced immersive experiences at scale across diverse audiences and content types, akin to the ways audio and video content is delivered today.

Technology standards remain a vital building block for the large-scale delivery of haptic-enhanced content by ensuring device interoperability, quality of content delivery, and quality of experience across the diverse haptic ecosystem. A network of standards bodies and industry organizations, including ISO/IEC MPEG, IEEE, IETF, and HIF are independently defining complementary standards and APIs for different aspects of haptic content creation, delivery and rendering. This complementary approach to standards will enable the sector to grow and flourish and bring more haptic-enhanced immersive content to home theaters and personal devices worldwide, and at InterDigital, we will continue the important work of researching and contributing the best technologies and solutions to the standards shared worldwide.

Learn more about the haptic standards that unlock new potential in haptic-enhanced and immersive experiences, here.

Dive deeper with InterDigital's recent webinar discussion addressing haptics as a new modality for immersive entertainment, here.