3 ms·

I'm curious if the people excited about this have tried it. The sensations are IMO not compelling. They definitely don't transform Minority Report-style air ges

I'm curious if the people excited about this have tried it. The sensations are IMO not compelling. They definitely don't transform Minority Report-style air gestures into a viable mode of interaction. I think the cooler trick that ultrasonic phased arrays can perform is levitating 3D patterns of tiny styrofoam spheres. For those wanting to experiment with hand controlled UI, an Oculus Quest is probably the best entry point. Development is very accessible; you can access the hand tracking in the browser from JavaScript and go to town. And if you need more than hand tracking can provide, you get controllers too.

spuz 6y ago
Have you tried it?
- modeless 6y ago
  Yes, I have owned multiple Leap Motion devices before their acquisition and used multiple demonstrations of ultrasonic phased arrays at SIGGRAPH and GDC, including Ultraleap specifically. It's true that my experience is somewhat limited as I haven't owned an ultrasonic phased array to play around with it for longer periods of time.
  - zaroth 6y ago
    I think this is not an experience which can be properly described as “somewhat limited”.
rdw 6y ago
I got the chance to try something like this a few years ago at GDC. It was barely even detectable. But I still hope that the technology gets researched and built out as far as it can go, because _something_ is necessary for virtual interfaces to work.
- m463 6y ago
  I wonder if you get more sensitive if you spend time practicing. I've tried "reading" braille - feeling it - and it seems next to impossible to pick out the dots. But somehow blind people can read it, quickly.
PragmaticPulp 6y ago
I have similar feelings about the technology. As much as I'd love to see someone apply ultrasonic haptics to an interesting use case, I don't know if useful haptic feedback can occur within the limits of safe ultrasonic SPLs. Even with relatively large arrays, the prototypes I've seen are so subtle that you almost have to be expecting the sensation to get anything out of it. It's not on the same level as the haptic feedback of an Apple trackpad.
- klintcho 6y ago
  I've been super excited for this space for a long time. Novel interaction ideas in the digital age seems to have a hard time breaking through (mouse and keyboard has was really a killer application). I'm wondering if a matrix of wire which could just run some very small currents through gloves onto specific sections and points on the hands could work ? (please be gentle, I haven't really researched this just a fun thought :) )
  - nl 6y ago
    If gloves are an option then there are lots of mechanisms that can deliver tactile sensations of various types.
  - throwaway316943 6y ago
    Mouse and keyboard killed it because they are physical objects. A touch screen or even something like this will always be a poor interface because they aren’t physically manipulable. Honestly I think we’re more likely to see a major advance from the Teledildonics people since they are actually working with real hardware and incorporating feedback mechanisms.
jph98 6y ago
I tried this tech back a year ago at a tech fair - not compelling, nor particularly accurate either.
IshKebab 6y ago
I used to work there. You're right the sensations are too weak and indistinct to be useful. People who haven't tried it probably think it's like touching an object. It isn't. It makes a patch of your skin lightly vibrate, which is a very different sensation, and it only really works on your palm. It's a really really cool tech demo but it kind of blows my mind that went further than that. The device is always going to be super expensive, and it just isn't anywhere near as good as actual buttons. Buttons work really well! There are some situations where you can't use buttons, like VR. But they're reaaaally niche. I can't see Ultraleap surviving.
- mrguyorama 6y ago
  I use buttons in VR all the time?
  - IshKebab 6y ago
    Yes obviously I mean physical controls, like a volume control or a car indicator stalk.

spuz 6y ago

Have you tried it?

modeless 6y ago
Yes, I have owned multiple Leap Motion devices before their acquisition and used multiple demonstrations of ultrasonic phased arrays at SIGGRAPH and GDC, including Ultraleap specifically. It's true that my experience is somewhat limited as I haven't owned an ultrasonic phased array to play around with it for longer periods of time.
- zaroth 6y ago
  I think this is not an experience which can be properly described as “somewhat limited”.

rdw 6y ago

I got the chance to try something like this a few years ago at GDC. It was barely even detectable. But I still hope that the technology gets researched and built out as far as it can go, because _something_ is necessary for virtual interfaces to work.

m463 6y ago
I wonder if you get more sensitive if you spend time practicing. I've tried "reading" braille - feeling it - and it seems next to impossible to pick out the dots. But somehow blind people can read it, quickly.

PragmaticPulp 6y ago

I have similar feelings about the technology. As much as I'd love to see someone apply ultrasonic haptics to an interesting use case, I don't know if useful haptic feedback can occur within the limits of safe ultrasonic SPLs. Even with relatively large arrays, the prototypes I've seen are so subtle that you almost have to be expecting the sensation to get anything out of it. It's not on the same level as the haptic feedback of an Apple trackpad.

klintcho 6y ago
I've been super excited for this space for a long time. Novel interaction ideas in the digital age seems to have a hard time breaking through (mouse and keyboard has was really a killer application). I'm wondering if a matrix of wire which could just run some very small currents through gloves onto specific sections and points on the hands could work ? (please be gentle, I haven't really researched this just a fun thought :) )
- nl 6y ago
  If gloves are an option then there are lots of mechanisms that can deliver tactile sensations of various types.
- throwaway316943 6y ago
  Mouse and keyboard killed it because they are physical objects. A touch screen or even something like this will always be a poor interface because they aren’t physically manipulable. Honestly I think we’re more likely to see a major advance from the Teledildonics people since they are actually working with real hardware and incorporating feedback mechanisms.

jph98 6y ago

I tried this tech back a year ago at a tech fair - not compelling, nor particularly accurate either.

IshKebab 6y ago

I used to work there. You're right the sensations are too weak and indistinct to be useful. People who haven't tried it probably think it's like touching an object. It isn't. It makes a patch of your skin lightly vibrate, which is a very different sensation, and it only really works on your palm. It's a really really cool tech demo but it kind of blows my mind that went further than that. The device is always going to be super expensive, and it just isn't anywhere near as good as actual buttons. Buttons work really well! There are some situations where you can't use buttons, like VR. But they're reaaaally niche. I can't see Ultraleap surviving.

mrguyorama 6y ago
I use buttons in VR all the time?
- IshKebab 6y ago
  Yes obviously I mean physical controls, like a volume control or a car indicator stalk.