Which form of entertainment introduced haptic simulation of objects to the general public?

Cafe Society
1

Which form of entertainment introduced the simulation of the sense of touching something that’s not really there to the general public?

Although, the 1959 movie The Tingler had buzzers which were activated by theater projectionists to make people think the titular creature from the film was attacking them. But these buzzers were only meant to be wired to a few seats. It was the intention of the film’s director, William Castle, for only "certain people, as he states in the film’s prologue, to feel the physical jolt of these buzzers.
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I don’t think I’m gonna count arcade racing games, because they intend to simulate the sense of the player’s vehicle, not the player himself/herself, touching (or should I say colliding with) other cars. Similarly, the 4-D movie Captain EO apparently intends to simulate the sense of the viewer’s vehicle, rather than the viewer, being hit by whatever is thrown at the viewer.**

In the 4-D movie Muppet*Vision 3D, Fozzie unleashes a snake in a can into the audience, and the viewer is hit with a burst of air to simulate the snake hitting the viewer’s face. The 4-D attraction at Sanrio Puroland, The Time Machine of Dreams, apparently first opened after 1994, which was when Monster Planet of Godzilla, the attraction it replaced, first opened: http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2014/05/14/remembering-quot-monster-planet-of-godzilla-quot-that-theme-park-attraction-which-put-you-toe-to-toe-with-the-tokyo-terror.aspx

In 1994, Aura Systems released the Interactor, a haptic vest, which monitors an audio signal and uses Aura’s patented electromagnetic actuator technology to convert bass sound waves into vibrations that can represent such actions as a punch or kick.

In 2006, Novint released the Falcon, the first consumer 3D touch device with high resolution three-dimensional force feedback, allowing haptic simulation of objects, textures, recoil, momentum, and the physical presence of objects in games.

As of right now, touchable holograms are being developed: Touchable Hologram Becomes Reality (w/ Video)

So, the form of entertainment that introduced haptic simulation of objects to the general public could be Muppet*Vision 3D. I really don’t know. What do you guys say?

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RegardingThe Tingler, Castle also toyed with the idea of fitting some seats with devices that would cause something to lightly brush against the backs of the seated theater-goer’s legs, as if the titular creature were underneath the seat. That’s arguably closer to the haptic simulation you seek.

It’s not exactly the same thing, but the intense sensation of motion was strongly conveyed in the short film This is Cinerama during the Point-of-View shot in the roller coaster scene. Audiences visible swayed in unison in response to the motion of the coaster seat. In this case, visual stimulation is enough to provoke the behavior – no motion of the seat is needed. A lot of rides, of course, provide the sensation of moving by shaking the seat, bot only at Disney and Universal, but at lots of others parks and even free-standing rides.

And, of course, there was Sensurround, which produced the sensation of vibration 9due to explosions, or earthquakes), used in the movies Midway and Earthquake, but that’s not so very different from the other seat shaking.

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Since this is about entertainment, let’s move it to Café Society.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

4

You might not accept racing games but there were numerous arcade shooters where the plastic gun had a force feedback simulated “recoil” feature. Operation Wolf (1987) for example.

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Are you talking about things like Honey I Shrunk the Audience at the Disney parks. It was interesting to sit through and had some real “shockers”. I think if you know how the did the effects (like the mouse running through the seats) it’d ruin it a bit.

I’m surprised with so many people watching movies and TV shows on tablets and smartphones that they haven’t added some haptics to to presentations, so a gunshot for example would vibrate the phone. On a small device it’d be more effective than 3-D.

6

Hmm…then I’m assuming that 4-D movies aren’t mainstream enough to make the public aware of non-contact tactile feedback, but that the forms of entertainment below will be mainstream enough to do so:

http://www.disneyresearch.com/project/aireal/