- Haptic Feedback is among the latest technologies to grace the gaming world, allowing sensory output for players.
- With haptics, players can submit themselves to the gaming experience, visualizing and feeling every bit of the adventure and rush.
- Research suggests a positive response in the gaming community to this technological advancement.
Gone are the days when players were just passive agents in the gaming environment. With the technological revolution, haptic feedback takes the gaming experience up by miles. Now, players can actively relate to the gaming world by feeling and sensing different elements of it.
What Is Haptic Feedback?
Haptic feedback refers to the phenomena of receiving tactile information from the virtual environment of the game to your body through vibrations and sensations to heighten your senses. Bring to mind the vibrations you feel when typing on your smartphone’s keypad, haptic feedback is exactly that.
Devices that support the haptic feedback output include console controllers, such as DualSense 5, smartphones, or AR/VR devices. While gaming, haptic feedback increases the user immersion tenfold by letting you indulge completely in the gaming experience.
Imagine you are swimming through a stream of fresh water and the controller allows you to physically feel sensations similar to that of cold water. Or feel the tension of recoiling your weapon through an intense shootout or physically pulling brakes on a racing car. The DualSense controller actually has all these features.
How Haptic Feedback Adds Realism
One-way gaming sessions via traditional controllers using only buttons and analog sticks have become old-school. Times have changed and with the more advanced interactive controllers, two-way gaming has become a reality.
Take it as you walk on an icy surface in snowy weather. The controller responds by producing vibrations to mimic the cold sensations of ice to make you feel as if you are physically present there.
I personally loved the haptic immersion in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. I could actually feel the difference in physical tension in the R2 triggers when reloading a rifle or a simple pistol. From the slight pull pressure of a pistol to the sturdy pull of a heavy sniper, it is a different kind of experience.
It lets you feel the severity of the impact on player interaction, falls, and when throwing objects or using weapons.
In Astro Bot, the controller produces thinner vibrations when walking on icy surfaces to mimic the feeling of gliding. Furthermore, you can feel random vibrations on the controller when it rains to sense the raindrops on your palm. Fascinating, no? In Ratchet and Clank, the same controller lets you feel the pressure of throwing a grenade at your enemies.
Research Evidence
Hermann et al. (2020) tested a prototype Directed Feedback Controller, which produces haptic feedback from all directions in a VR game. 77% of the participants affirmed that it enhanced the game immersion for them.
Another experiment exploring the role of haptics in digital games found that 8/10 participants felt more immersed in the video game due to the haptic feedback. One participant particularly reported that haptic feedback helps warn players when they are going off-road, especially when their eyes are focused on the road ahead.
Wrap Up
Therefore, enough research evidence supports the idea that players love the use of haptics in games. Once it becomes mainstream, the gaming experience will be unmatched.
Although the technology is mindblowing, I believe that adding too much of something makes the experience unpleasurable and it becomes annoying after some time. It is highly important that the developers add the correct balance of haptics in games and not overdo it. Otherwise, the innovation could backfire fast as gaming is a very dear experience for those of us who live for it.
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