Next-gen Game Controllers Tug At Thumb Tips [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

An anonymous reader writes "Engineers at the University of Utah have designed a new kind of video game controller that not only vibrates like existing devices, but pulls and stretches the thumb tips in different directions to simulate various types of movement. 'We have developed feedback modes that enhance immersiveness and realism for gaming scenarios such as collision, recoil from a gun, the feeling of being pushed by ocean waves or crawling prone in a first-person shooter game,' said the lead researcher on the project, adding he hoped the technology would be adopted in the next generation of gaming consoles."

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[Emperor Megas]

That actually sounds a lot more immersive and practical for gaming applications than motion controls (currently) are.

[Rickstilwell1]

Ahh the stick is moving every which way on its own! As your character dies of a seizure induced by an enemy's poison in an RPG...

[Gameguy]

'We have developed feedback modes that enhance immersiveness and realism for gaming scenarios such as collision, recoil from a gun, the feeling of being pushed by ocean waves or crawling prone in a first-person shooter game.'

[Leo_A]

It's about time that force feedback made an appearance on gamepads.