Asked by: Anonymous
Nintendo Wii users know that it's already pretty advanced. The impulse that you feel through your hand and up your arm as you serve in Wii Tennis is uncannily realistic. The technology is similar to that on your vibrating mobile phone.
But the latest 'must have' is a pneumatic haptic gaming jacket. Built into it is an array of small pistons powered by compressed air. In gameplay, if you get shot or stabbed, the pneumatic rams open and jab into you accordingly. They're particularly effective at simulating the effects of shrapnel.
Finally in this tactile factfile, and away from gaming, haptics is now part of the toolkit in telemedicine. Surgeons can operate remotely on patients across a video link. As well as seeing what they're doing through a monitor, haptic technology gives them sensitive force feedback during the procedure.
Subscribe to BBC Focus magazine for fascinating new Q&As every month and follow @sciencefocusQA on Twitter for your daily dose of fun science facts.