HAPTIC TECHNOLOGY

This is new to me: haptic technology. On the Discovery Science channel tonight, it was one of the new computer technologies shown (along with attempts to understand dog barks by computer analysis; use feedback from one's brain to move virtual and real objects, ...) I was amazed that the interviewer could feel real textures even though he was placing his hands/fingers on a smooth screen.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haptic_technology):

* Haptic technology, or haptics, is a tactile feedback technology that takes advantage of a user's sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, and/or motions to the user.

* Researchers at the University of Tokyo are currently working on adding haptic feedback to holographic projections. The feedback allows the user to interact with a hologram and receive tactile response as if the holographic object were real.

* Some speculate the clothing retail industry could gain from haptic technology in ways such as being able to "feel" the texture of clothes for sale on the internet.