Samsung continues its efforts to improve the smartphone experience and is working on new technologies that will enrich user interaction. A patent the company recently filed revealed that it offers an innovative solution to how haptic feedback systems can provide a more realistic touch sensation on smartphones. While the haptic feedback features used today offer a limited vibration experience on touch screens, this new technology that Samsung is working on aims to provide users with more physical feedback in virtual touches.
This patent, noticed by MSPowerUser, aims to provide a more sensitive and intense tactile feedback in various parts of the screen by using multiple vibration motors placed at different points within the device. In Samsung’s patent, this system, used with various sensors positioned under the touch screen, aims to make the user feel as if they are pressing a real button by providing vibration on the touched surface. This structure is supported by many small vibration motors placed on the edges and certain areas of the screen, and each motor detects the pressure at the touch point and provides feedback.
Samsung’s efforts on tactile feedback are not limited to just creating the feeling of buttons. Thanks to the vibration motors spread over different areas of the touch screen, users can provide feedback by changing the vibration intensity when they touch the icons or buttons on the screen. For example, in quick access menus such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, the strength or shape of the vibration may vary when icons are tapped. This can take the user’s interaction with the device to a more realistic level by allowing the user to experience the physical sensation of pressing.
Although it is not yet clear whether Samsung will commercialize this technology, it seems that such innovations can take the smartphone experience to a different point. On the other hand, the development process of this patent continues and it is not yet known whether this system will appear in the next Galaxy series phones. However, given the innovations that the company has made in its previous models that improve the touch experience, it seems likely that Samsung will use a similar technology in its future devices.
Samsung also used a virtual home button in the Galaxy S8 model
Samsung previously used a pressure-sensitive virtual home button positioned under the screen on the Galaxy S8 model. This button functioned to return to the home screen even when the device was in sleep mode, and when pressed for a long time, it enabled switching from any application to the home screen. While this feature reveals Samsung’s experience in haptic feedback, it also reveals that the company plans to progress further in this area.
There are many potential uses for how this advanced haptic feedback technology can improve user experience. For example, when using virtual keys, giving the feeling of a real button at every point you touch on the phone screen can take the user experience one step further by making up for the lack of physical keys. In fact, the touch experience in games and applications can be made more impressive; Especially in first-person shooter games or racing games, users can be more drawn into the scene.