Haptic technology

Rumble packs for controllers, such as this Dreamcast Jump Pack, provide haptic feedback through a user's hands

Haptic technology, haptics, or kinesthetic communication, is tactile feedback technology which recreates the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user.^[1] This mechanical stimulation can be used to assist in the creation of virtual objects in a computer simulation, to control such virtual objects, and to enhance the remote control of machines and devices (telerobotics). It has been described as "doing for the sense of touch what computer graphics does for vision".^[2] Haptic devices may incorporate tactile sensors that measure forces exerted by the user on the interface.

Haptic technology has made it possible to investigate how the human sense of touch works by allowing the creation of carefully controlled haptic virtual objects. These objects are used to systematically probe human haptic capabilities, which would otherwise be difficult to achieve. These research tools contribute to the understanding of how touch and its underlying brain functions work.

The word haptic, from the Greek: ἁπτικός (haptikos), means "pertaining to the sense of touch" and comes from the Greek verb ἅπτεσθαι haptesthai, meaning "to contact" or "to touch."