Yes, I’m a little skeptical of this haptic technology development from Nokia. They’re calling it Haptikos. Its going to make touchscreen keyboards fun just like zooming graphics do on the iPhone but at the end of the day, it doesn’t actually make anything faster. Even Nokia say so themselves:
“Funnily enough, although you think you’re typing faster than normal because of the feedback, in actual fact you’re not,” said Takala, “There’s just some sort of mental satisfaction that comes from typing with a tactile response.”
There are still going to be issues to sort out.
- Feeling/centering on a key before pressing it is not possible.
- Keyboard still takes 50% or more of screen space.
- Fingers still hide keys.
- Predictive text technology still needed to improve speeds.
If you’ve used Dial Keys, imagine using it with vibration feedback. Would it make it more productive or efficient? I doubt it. Haptikos will be nice, i’m sure about that and, like the iPhone’s multi-touch, many people will talk about it and enjoy it but we must not forget about all the other issues. That screen real-estate issue is the biggest one that needs sorting. Slide-out 2mm-thick haptic touchscreens could be an option over thumboards.
Via GottabeMobile
Original: Red Ferret Journal
