Haptx - revolution in game interaction?

One of the most interesting things I have seen at Tokyo Game Show 2007 was weird-looking input device known under codename Haptx. What looks like a small droid with a little ball hanging out on three supports is the innovative mechanism that can be used for truly 3D navigation. The problem with a mouse is that it is in fact 2D input device, hence the need of using additional buttons and whatnot - yet in fact this only emulates three dimensions of movement. Haptx allows user to control the pointer in full 3D and also provides force feedback. How cool is that?


Haptx was originally conceived as a device used for training of surgeons, therefore at the beginning it was extremely precise, but also expensive tool. At some point someone realised that gamers don't require that amount of precision, hence the cheaper (the estimated end-user price should be about 200USD) version was born. And having spent some time with it, I can confidently say that this is at least interesting.


Firstly, I was shown a tech demo in which I could feel the textures of objects with Haptx. I could even feel pulsations of water flowing in the pipes (although in real life I was never able to do that in fact...). Still, the experience was neat. Then it was time for some real life action - Quake 4. Although at first I had some difficulties while aiming (but hey, it took me some time to get used to mouse at first as well), the overall impression was great. Not only each weapon really felt different (random recoil of machine gun versus powerful "kick" of the shotgun), but also when enemies started shooting, I could sense where I am being hit from, not to mention it also affected my accuracy. It made the game more difficult, but at the same time much more realistic. The last part of the show was demonstration of how player can interact with environment of game called Penumbra using Haptx - this part was, in my opinion, the least impressive.


Will Haptx in time revolutionize gaming input like once did joystick and mouse? I am not sure, but definitely it has a lot of potential. I'll be keeping my eye on the news and you, dear readers, should try to test it should you have the occasion, because even though it looks strange, it feels more natural after you have tried it.