Tactile Feedback technology has been around for many years. This type of technology takes advantage of our sense of touch. It is unique because it uses more than one procedure for applying forces or vibrations or motions to the user. One form of Tactile Feedback can be found in cell phones. The cellphone is equipped with an offset weight that is spun by a motor. If the cellphone is on vibrate and a call is received, the entire phone will vibrate letting the user know there is a call. 

Another version of this technology is used in remote-controlled robotic tools. With Tactile Feedback a reproduction of physical interactions occurs similar to what the robot is touching. Then the user receives a feedback response on what the robot has experienced. This type of simulation involves servomotors and solenoids creating force feedback for the operator. Systems with this force feedback are used in everything from video games to medical robotics. In medicine robotics, using the sense of touch along with pressure, Tactile Feedback positions the doctor’s hands making it possible for a doctor to operate with high precision in real-time. It promotes more accurate surgical procedures.  

Tactile Feedback is not limited to just touch technologies but can also include technologies input from a Web Cam. Such systems can be used to play video games. One such system that uses this type of technology is Microsoft’s Kinect for the Xbox360. The Kinect is two cameras, one is a regular video camera, and the other is an infrared camera. The games use software to take the person’s movements from the camera and overlay them into the game, which is then displayed on the screen.

Another system that uses Tactile Feedback is a SmartBoard system, which consists of a touch input display and a rear projection system. This type of system senses what is being touched and then takes the input and displays it from the projector system onto a screen to be viewed. 

One of the newest Tactile Feedback additions that will be implemented into mobile devices, will trick your fingers into thinking that the touch screen is either smooth or rough. This is done by controlling the friction forces in the screen so then when the screen is touched your finger’s nerve endings are sensing wether the screen is either smooth or rough. The way this is done is by the use of special circuitry, on the surface of the phone screen, which then alternates the current at a very high frequency, changing friction levels and allowing your fingers the illusion of the screen being smooth or rough.