News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:The Glorious Return of a Humble Car Feature by GuB-42 on Thursday April 27, 2023 @04:53AM (#35725159)
Because haptics "like in phones" suck. They are nothing but vibration motors. There have been a lot of research of patents for more interesting interaction, but what we have now is arguable worse than what we had in a Nokia 3310 (because of the lower mass of the motors). The feedback is like if the entire screen was a single button.

Haptic tech I have seen are ways to vary the drag coefficient across the screen, tiny actuators that deform the screen, or use of interference to create vibration on a specific location. There is even touchless haptics, using ultrasound.

The only instance where a manufacturer seemed to care was with the iPhone 6 "Taptic Engine", which is little more than a better vibration motor, giving a better "whole screen button" effect. But they didn't improve further, in fact, if anything, the newer models are worse.

Re:The Glorious Return of a Humble Car Feature by rkangel on Thursday April 27, 2023 @05:30AM (#35725493)
The haptics in the trackpads for the Steam Deck are pretty good. They manage to communicate textures and boundaries on the trackpad. They're not magical, but they are a bit step above anything I've used anywhere else.