Another new technology for me . . .

I can always count on something in Ian Juke's 21st Century Fluency Project to boggle my mind.  It was one of the first sights where I learned about 3d printing that just happens to be a component of the video below focused on a Disney research project about interactive graphics.  The video takes the viewer through a four minute explanation of AIREAL, an interactive tactile experience.  I learned that this means we will soon be able to not only interact with our devices, but actually feel for example a butterfly moving up our arm.

As well as making screens you can feel, Disney Research is also developing tactile equipment that doesn’t require any actual contact at all — like an Xbox Kinect, but where you feel as though you can touch objects in front of you in thin air. The device is called the “Aireal” and in its developers’ words it provides “interactive tactile experiences in free air.” The Aireal works by blowing small rings of air at a user to simulate touch, movement or collisions with objects.

I also learned a new term from the post, haptic technology.  I figured out the meaning from context, but decided to followup on Wikipedia.  We are actually in fourth generation haptic devices and I am only now learning about them, another measure of my technological literacy.  Guess I just need to keep reading his posts.