SIGGRAPH Conference 2011

'Haptics' is a brand new sensory 1 technology that's set to make today's electronics even more lifelike and thrilling. From white-knuckle video games to pregnancy 2 simulators and even techno music - haptics could make all of these things even more realistic.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

 

For thrill seekers who long for the rush of a racing 3 car without risking their lives, video games now offer the ultimate ride.

At this special exhibit of "Split Second", a cutting-edge arcade 4 racing car game, drivers feel the same sensations as those professional drivers strapped 5 in behind the wheel.

As this super car speeds, crashes, swerves 6 and brakes around the track, the gamer sits in a special seat that simulates real-life sensations.

The technology is known as haptics, and dozens of exhibitors are demonstrating ways that it can be applied 7 at the annual Special Interest Group on Graphics 8 and Interactive 9 Techniques, or SIGGRAPH Conference, in Vancouver.

Ladislav Kavan, is a research scientist at Disney Interactive Studios.

"Split Second is a pretty fun game. It's amazing, all these explosions and stuff. And the haptics just adds another dimension to it. You can actually feel what you're doing. And you can actually feel from both sides what's happening. So the immersion 10, I guess, is one level higher than it would be normally."

If your Xbox games just aren't doing it for you any more, haptics could represent the future of home-console gaming for hardcore gamers.

But haptics can also have practical applications.

One team from Japan has created a way for people who've never been pregnant to experience what it's like to carry a baby for nine months. The device is called Mommy Tummy.

As visitors - including men - try on the ordinary looking apron 11, it begins to expand and grow heavier. The apron is laced with haptics that apply pressure on the abdomen 12, creating the sensation of a kicking baby.

During the ninth month of the simulation, the virtual baby is fully 13 grown, and its average weight is about 3 kilograms and 300 grams, similar to the size and weight of a penguin 14.

As the apron expands and reaches its maximum weight, visitors are encouraged to pick up objects from the ground.

People who have never given birth start to grasp the challenges of pregnancy, gaining a newfound appreciation 15 of what pregnant women have to go through. Scientist Takayuki Kosaka from the Kanagawa Institute of Technology explains:

"This system helps people understand how it feels to be pregnant even if you are a man. Pregnant women experience a lot of difficulties up until the point of birth. However, the feeling of being pregnant is hard for people around them to understand, especially for husbands or friends. That is why we developed this system; in order to allow people around a pregnant woman to understand how difficult it is to be pregnant."

Graduate students from MIT's Media Lab have created a high-tech 16 device known as Recompose. The device is able to present images normally displayed on flat surfaces in 3D.

The technology allows people to manipulate individual pieces of the device by simply moving their hands. The process is astounding 17, but it also has several practical applications. Anthony Devincenzi is a graduate student at MIT's Media Lab who worked on the device.

"Historically, it sort of included us using the surface as a rendering 18 display for topography or geographic 19 rendering. So we'll put a solid surface, a singular surface over the top of it and then render that back down to something very familiar like Google Earth. And then people can sort of explore different parts of the world and see different heights and mountain ranges and different heights and parts of cities. And that's usually a pretty rewarding experience for people who are used to using a flat monitor to look at Google Earth."

Over 156 industry organizations displayed their latest gadgets 20 and devices to nearly 16,000 gaming experts, filmmakers, academics and students at this year's SIGGRAPH.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.