[accessibleimage] article - Haptic Days to Come?

Article from Business Week
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/aug2006/id20060829_629087.htm?chan=innovation_innovation%20+%20design_innovation%20and%20design%20lead
Innovation
By Reena Jana
Haptic Days to Come?
Novint's Falcon controller could bring haptic technology?which creates a
3-D tactile effect?to the world of PC gaming

In 2002, Tom Anderson, chief executive of Novint Technologies ([
javascript: void showTicker('NVNT') ]NVNT ), was awaiting the birth of his
son, Will. At the time, Novint was developing software for use with haptic
devices?controllers that allow the user to feel weight, shape, texture,
and other tactile qualities of objects in a digital image. Specifically,
Novint was creating the algorithms to extract tactile data from MRIs, CAT
scans, and other types of medical imaging so they could be used with
state-of-the-art haptic peripherals. 

A visit to the obstetrician with his wife served as the unlikely
inspiration for the new direction of his company. When Anderson saw the
3-D sonogram of their baby, he realized Novint could create a tactile
representation of the infant, too. Mathematically, the data used in an
ultrasound are similar to those of an MRI or CAT scan. Soon, the Novint
team had adapted its volumetric and tactile software?based on algorithms
licensed from Sandia National Laboratories, where Anderson had worked as a
scientist?to produce a textured representation of the baby. 

SWISS CONNECTION. "I could touch Will's skin and feel the difference of
textures between my son's nose and my wife's amniotic fluid," Anderson
says. "It was a neat experience for a parent." (Going one step further, he
imagined creating "contemporary versions of bronzed baby boots"?keepsake
3-D sculptures based on the sonograms. He formed a subdivision of the
company called Novint Sono to create Baby Light Gems, 3-D glass cubes of
infants' likenesses sculpted with ultrasound imagery.) 

At the time, Anderson had no solid plans to develop a consumer hardware
device. The haptic peripherals on the market cost too much, their
five-figure price tags reflecting the intricate system of motors and
robotic arms. 

But one year later, Anderson came across a controller produced by Swiss
company Force Dimension. While most controllers at the time featured
robotic arms sometimes nearly as large as adult human limbs, Force
Dimension's model was small enough for desktop use. Priced at $17,800, the
device was intended for institutions, but Anderson felt if he could get
the cost down, the device had potential in the video-gaming market. 

Anderson now faced a huge design challenge: how to transform the high-end
device into a mainstream one, retaining the functionality and easy-to-use
form factor as well as driving down the cost. He aimed to offer the PC
peripheral for about $100. 

ARMS IN TRIPLICATE. He enlisted Lunar Design, the Palo Alto (Calif.)
company whose clients include Apple ([ javascript: void showTicker('AAPL')
]AAPL ), Hewlett-Packard ([ javascript: void showTicker('HPQ') ]HPQ ),
Microsoft ([ javascript: void showTicker('MSFT') ]MSFT ), Motorola ([
javascript: void showTicker('MOT') ]MOT ), Palm ([ javascript: void
showTicker('PALM') ]PALM ), Pepsi ([ javascript: void showTicker('PEP')
]PEP ), and Sony ([ javascript: void showTicker('SNE') ]SNE ).
"Functionality drove the final look of the Falcon," says Jeff Smith, chief
executive of Lunar. "This is a mechanical device, after all. We designed
with the idea that the sense of touch is more important than even the
aesthetics of the controller." 

The Falcon has three robotic arms, a base that houses the "guts," or
motors, that drive the controller's movements, and a handle with a round,
ball-like grip, called an end effector. The handle can be fitted with
different grips, such as one that feels like a gun trigger. The design
resembles that of the original Force Dimension controller, but with
lighter, less expensive materials. 

In terms of engineering, the single, powerful motor of the original was
replaced with a series of smaller, inexpensive motors. To retain the
original's desktop-friendly size, the designers configured the unit's
three arms so that they would fold neatly inward when not in use. 

WHERE OTHERS HAVE FIZZLED. With its alien-like silhouette and haptic
technology, the Falcon represents a fresh direction in PC game
peripherals. But the PC-game controller market has seen its share of
radically new devices make their debuts in the last two decades?and some
analysts feel skeptical about the market potential for yet another one. 

"Game developers might be leery, because the game will be limited to only
those consumers who own the new controller," says video game analyst David
Cole of DFC Intelligence. 

For a brief period in the 1980s, noncomputer-game maker Milton Bradley
sold the Expansion System for the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A computer, for
example, which featured a then-new 360-degree joystick for PC gaming. In
1996, Microsoft released its Sidewinder line of PC controllers, which each
year offered new features, such as a voice-microphone system. In 2003, it
was discontinued due to slowing sales. 

"It's best to take a wait-and-see attitude when predicting how a new PC
controller might sell," says Cole. "Most developers would prefer the
widest customer base, so this makes it hard to establish a nonstandard
controller." 

TRICKY GAME. But Anderson says games aren't the only application for
Novint's Falcon. "The video game market is just the first market to go
after," he says. The strategy, Anderson explains, is to use the gaming
market to generate buzz and?when the Falcon hits the shelves in early
2007?revenues that will fund research and development for future uses in
other areas of entertainment as well as training and education. 

For instance, Anderson imagines interactive on-screen toys such as "a 3-D
animated doll or building blocks that children can touch and feel," and
also suggests that the Falcon might be used within online communities such
as Second Life. Outside of the entertainment world, he sees potential for
touch-sensitive simulations for use in training in a range of fields from
mechanics to medicine. 

These projected applications won't see realization for years. Near-term,
Novint must succeed in the game market, which isn't a given. The company
is dependent on developers to create the PC games that will require its
technology. 

MISSION: CONTROLLER. Plus, the Falcon isn't the only new controller with
innovative features to debut in coming months. Although designed for
consoles rather than PCs, Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PS3 controllers will
hit shelves by the end of 2006, offering motion-sensitive, next-generation
devices for console gamers. Such controllers suggest significant
competition for the Falcon, even if they represent different platforms.
Moreover, the PC game market is dwindling compared to the console market. 

According to industry researcher NPD, sales of console software grew 3%
last year, while PC software sales dropped 10.5% from the previous year.
So the biggest challenge for Novint may require more than luring game
developers, designers, and gamers toward its controller?a daunting enough
triple-hurdle. The biggest task might be to convince gamers that the
console hasn't killed PC gaming. 



Lisa Yayla
Huseby Kompetansesenter 
Oslo Norway
lisa.yayla@xxxxxxxxxx

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