Novint's* Falcon Haptic Device

Novint's Falcon* Haptic Device is a high fidelity, robotic 3D haptic controller. Haptics refers to your sense of touch in the same way that graphics refers to your sense of sight. The Falcon lets you have a detailed sense of 3D touch with computers. You can move the handle right-left and forwards-backwards like a mouse, but unlike a mouse, you can also move the handle up and down in full 3D. A computer keeps tracks of the position of the handle and then updates the 3 motors 1000 times per second which gives users a very realistic sense of touch. When a 3D cursor touches an object, the motors turn on, and the object feels solid. The touch is so realistic that the Falcon can be used to simulate medical procedures to a level that a real life surgeon will feel a precise virtual representation of a medical procedure.

It is a truly amazing technology that must be tried to be believed.

Here is an example of how the Falcon works in a video game context:

The Falcon was created in 2006 by Novint Technologies*, and was the world's first (and still, only) consumer 3D touch device. It has the robotic capabilities of devices orders of magnitude more expensive, yet it is robust and sturdy enough for gamers to use for years of play. The best part, is that all of this capability is available at a consumer price point!

 

* - Novint and Novint Falcon are trademarks of Novint Technologies Inc. All product and company names are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.