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Two 'haptics' stories May 2012 - March 2015
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Force Touch features in iMovie illustrate the power of ‘bumpy pixels,’ says haptics pioneer

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Mar 20 2015 - 4:17 am PT
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Haptic feedback features found in a recent iMovie update illustrate the power of Apple’s new Force Touch trackpad to provide feedback, not just as an input device, says one of the pioneers of the technology.

Freelance film editor Alex Gollner first noticed Apple was using the trackpad to provide tactile feedback in a recent update to iMovie.

When dragging a video clip to its maximum length, you’ll get feedback letting you know you’ve hit the end of the clip. Add a title and you’ll get feedback as the title snaps into position at the beginning or end of a clip. Subtle feedback is also provided with the alignment guides that appear in the Viewer when cropping clips.

Apple showed-off the Force Touch feature when announcing the new 12-inch MacBook, also adding it to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. The WSJ recently claimed that Apple also plans to introduce the feature to the touchscreen on the next generation of the iPhone … 
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Yes, Apple is still working on haptics for touch devices

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 3 2012 - 9:47 am PT
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We already know Apple is working on haptic technologies for mobile devices from patents in the past (here, here, and here). We also know that last-minute rumors of Finnish company Senseg’s technology being included in the third-generation iPad never came true. Another patent surfaced today giving us a look at Apple’s work with an advanced multi-tiered haptics system for iOS devices. PatentlyApple has all the details:

…today’s surprise invention packs a punch with a wildly intelligent multi-tiered haptics system. The system will actually allow an iDevice display to deform so that it could provide the user with a button, an arrow or even a geological map to physically pop right out of the screen to give it 3D depth. If that wasn’t cool enough, Apple’s patent discusses a flexible OLED display that could be used for video glasses.

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