Artificial Muscle CEO Talks Future of Tactile Feedback in Gaming

Dirk Schapeler, CEO of Artificial Muscle Inc., a Bayer MaterialScience company, walks us through tactile feedback, the new Mophie Pulse, and the future of his technology in gaming and beyond.

Mophie Pulse
Mophie Pulse Credit: Mophie

We had a chance to sit down with Dirk Schapeler and ask him our most burning questions about his company's new technology. Namely, what the heck is it and where can we get it? Schapeler explained his tech was capable of much more than the simple rumbles we've been conditioned to enjoy in gaming. He went on to say it has the potential to bring the "HD feel," as he called it, to all different types of everyday devices.

UGO: When someone unfamiliar with ViviTouch, or tactile feedback in general, asks me what the Mophie Pulse is, I tell them it's basically a rumble pack for your iPhone or iPod Touch. What would you say is incorrect with this over-simplified description and what would you say is correct?

Dirk Schapeler: Until you have the opportunity to feel ViviTouch, it’s somewhat difficult to articulate how it changes feel to “HD feel.” Because ViviTouch uses a unique, proprietary film, also known as electro-active polymer (EAP), our hardware component acts like a speaker does for sound waves. So, it is actually taking existing sounds and translating them into how they should feel.

With existing rumble or vibratory technology, it just buzzes (like someone is calling or texting you) and no difference is felt between different events. Picture if a game used the exact same sound effect for jumping, shooting, crashing, punches and so on. This is effectively the narrow range that traditional rumble motors have had for feels, you just got one kind of “bzzzzzz” for everything.

ViviTouch gets closer to how a game should feel and has a spectrum of endless possibilities. Also, you’ll also find it’ll enhance your mobile movie watching experience as it’s almost like having a portable subwoofer in your hand.

UGO: Did you approach Mophie with hopes of getting your technology into their devices or did they approach you? What about the iPhone and iPod Touch made you decide it was the perfect place for the ViviTouch tech to start?

Dirk Schapeler: We met Mophie at a trade show and immediately saw the potential to integrate our actuator in the form of their signature juice pack. Mophie shared the same excitement and vision for the concept as they saw the opportunity to expand their value beyond just battery packs.

UGO: Would you say the mobile market is the beginning of the evolution of tactile feedback technology or the end?

Dirk Schapeler: What’s exciting is that the Mophie Pulse is the first gaming peripheral to use our technology, but it’s definitely only the beginning. ViviTouch could also be directly integrated in any manner of device, such as smart phones, tablets, game controllers or anything else our partners can think up. From this standpoint, as more companies integrate our “high definition feel” to new devices, it opens up completely new tactile experiences. ViviTouch also provides game developers an opportunity to leverage this platform to enhance and differentiate their games by making them more immersive and devising new and interesting feels for players to experience.

UGO: If the Mophie Pulse is just the beginning, where do you see tactile feedback technology moving next?

Dirk Schapeler: As we mentioned before, we see ViviTouch enhancing all manner of devices, but what’s really exciting is seeing what happens when creative game makers come up with new ideas for “HD feel.” Just as HD cameras and 3D cameras gave filmmakers more tools and inspired new ideas, we think that developers will really surprise us once they can make the player feel anything they want. Just wait until you feel what a real heartbeat feels like with ViviTouch. A player could instantly tell when their character feels frightened or stressed without needing to check an on-screen meter.

We’re sure that other companies will certainly try to move into this market and compete for “HD feel” in the mobile gaming space. However, because the unique feel we produce is specific to the proprietary material we’ve developed, we don’t see anyone else having the capability of developing a technology that provides a wide range of realistic feels, while being highly energy efficient and having such a small form.

UGO: Was there anything you aimed to achieve with the EAP actuators that you weren't able to reach yet (ie: features, size, etc.) that you plan to aim for while refining the technology?

Dirk Schapeler: We are already refining the current ViviTouch technology for the next generation. At the same time, after years of development, the core technology is ready to be integrated in various devices commercially and we’re focused right now on mobile gaming integrations. Our research into EAP technology has basically produced a new kind of electrical motor that’s quiet, lightweight and more energy efficient than before. While we’re just starting to scratch the surface of what it brings to haptic devices, uses for it could conceivably be even broader.

While we’re not quite ready to share what the future holds, we’re constantly having discussions with companies who have great ideas for what to do with ViviTouch next and it’s really exciting!