Seen@GDC: the Novint Falcon haptic interface device

by Christopher Grant { Mar 27th 2006 at 11:35PM }

Some of you may remember seeing the Novint Falcon before. The Falcon is a 3D controller that uses "haptic" technology to replicate the sense of touch. While the device itself appears a bit unwieldily, the fluidity of the control it provided was remarkably subtle and realistic.

Roll your cursor over a ball, and the controller pushes back just the right amount, giving you the tactile sensation that you're actually touching it. If the ball is pitted, the controller dips in and out of the contours. If it's abrasive, it moves slower with just the slightest amount of rumble. Other demos included a Barney-shooting FPS, a bow and arrow simulation, a tethered bouncy ball, and a basketball freethrow.

Like the Revmote, the Falcon is being shown with tech demos designed to accentuate its strengths, but how will actual games work with the controller? Novint told me that they have developed their own API that game designers can incorporate into their titles, but it was unclear if the controller would work with existing games.

They said it should be out in 2007 for less than $100. For some more info, check out Firing Squad's GDC interview with the guys at Novint.

[Pictured above: MTV News' Stephen Totilo gropes the Falcon]

Tags: Haptics, Novint Falcon, NovintFalcon

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

lolersticks @ Mar 27th 2006 11:54PM

Barney-Shooting!? I HAVE to get my hands on one of these, now.

Hung @ Mar 27th 2006 11:54PM

I played a few demo games with this device in my video game development class. I wrote up a little thing about it in my blog.

Overall, it's very cool, but I have a feeling it'll be a novelty item unless it sees huge support from many different publishers (which probably won't happen). Then again, you never know with the Nintendo Revolution...

Rather than for gaming, this device will have a much better chance in the medical field (simulators and whatnot).

Sense @ Mar 28th 2006 9:14AM

Wow, that is awesome. I can't remembe how many times I've been outside looking at a ball and thinking, "Man, I wish I could *feel* that."

EdZ @ Mar 28th 2006 10:14AM

I've played with a haptic interface at reading University, and it was pretty cool. You'd be suprised how much you can interact with something with only two 3d points. That said, I'm curious about how this can be used with only one point and rotation (and why it's so bulky).

Justin @ Mar 28th 2006 1:50PM

Haptic devices are pretty cool, but I have to agree with the above posters that they may have limited function. When I was in school last year for technical writing, one of our final projects was to write a user manual for a product created by a team of computer science/engineering students. These guys made a demo for the haptics lab that was basically a 3D haptics version of the game Operation. Moving the haptic device would move your surgical instrument on-screen and you could actually feel when you touched the body or the various organs. Very, very cool experience, though it seems like it will be a while before it could handle high-speed interactions or anything that requires precision.