Cambridge, UK: HiWave Technologies recently launched its first haptic controller IC, designed for use with the company’s haptic exciters. The device uses HiWave’s patented bending wave technology to create and position tactile sensations on conventional flat panels.
Dubbed HIHS9002, the controller features low latency when receiving coordinates and vectors from a host system processor and delivering stored haptic signals to the transducers. The timing of the tactile response is critical to the successful deployment of haptics.
With HiWave's signal library, comprising a range of haptic clicks and textures, features such as button, trackpad, and scroll can be implemented in a straightforward manner. Also, it’s possible to deliver audio cues through the same transducers, which turn the flat panel or display into a loudspeaker. The chip's nonvolatile memory stores multiple haptic signals and audio cues, enabling appropriate feedback to be generated to accompany the key-press or gesture being invoked by the user.
Applications for the haptic controller chips include handheld computing and communications, data-entry terminals, keypads, chip/pin readers, industrial control, and home appliances.
HiWave
http://www.hi-wave.com/