Haptics for android

Engaging the sense of touch in
Android based games for profit
Bob Heubel
Developer Evangelist, Haptics

March 2012
NASDAQ: IMMR

© 2011 Immersion Corporation

Agenda
 Short introduction to Haptics
 Review of Haptic application examples
 Introduction to free Immersion developer tools
– Library of pre-made effects
– Universal Haptic Layer (UHL)
– Studio design tool for custom effect design
 “Zap Your App” campaign for revenue opportunities
 Haptics beyond gaming discussion
 Q & A session

© 2011 Immersion Corporation 2

Interactive Haptics in mobile gaming example


What is Haptics?
Perhaps you have seen these before?


Why use Haptics in Android devices?
 Makes your apps feel more engaging/useable.
 Brings greater user satisfaction.
 Gives users what they expect to feel for input and
gesture confirmations, even in flat virtual interfaces.
 Adds an additional communication pathway to
existing video and audio experience.
 Adds an emotional connection to the user experience
that is lacking in video and audio alone.
 Allows you to control vibration events that are not
available on other platforms, like iOS, for a
competitive advantage.


Why use Haptics in Android devices?
Number One Reason…

Make more money!
Through potential hardware and carrier deals


Immersion Haptic Development Platform
Realistic game play. Lifelike applications.

Arcade

Action Effect
Preview App

7

Google Vibrate () vs. Immersion Haptic SDK
Vibration Parameters Google Vibrate Immersion
Function Haptic SDK
Duration
Magnitude

Frequency pulsing

Timeline design
capability w/sound
Dynamic API control
functions of all the
above parameters


Benefits of the MOTIV SDK

 Goes beyond Google () vibrate motor on/off control
 Gives you a library of 124 pre-made Haptic vibe
effects from clicks to explosions, alerts, gesture and
game weapon effects, just to name a few
 Saves you time developing effects that feel good
across all Android devices
 Allows consistent vibe playback on ALL Android
devices regardless of manufacturer


Example – Benefits of Haptic SDK
 Using standard Google vibrate () you must define
motor “on” durations for each device type.
– Not useful, nor effective for longer duration game effects
– Time consuming to code for multiple device motor types, i.e.
your effect may feel fine on your one Android device but
horrible on another device
 The Haptic platform abstracts/simplifies this for you
– You choose an effect you want from a pre-made library
– It automatically feels consistent across all Android devices
whether it is an explosion, click, or bounce
– We call this our Universal Haptic Layer (UHL)


Adding MOTIV Haptics to an Android application

SDK and Studio available at: www.immersion.com/MOTIVsdk

MOTIV Quick Start Guide


Add UHL to Eclipse project
• Extract UHL_x_x_xx.zip somewhere
• Copy extracted libImmEmulatorJ.so file to your Eclipse
project libs/armeabi folder (create folders if necessary)
• In Eclipse, refresh project to see
libs/armeabi/libImmEmulatorJ.so
• Navigate to Project > Properties > Build Path >
Configure Build Path…
• Click on Add External JARs…
• Browse to location of extracted UHL.jar file
• In the permissions tab under the AndroidManifest.xml,
add “android.permission.VIBRATE”

©2011 Immersion Corporation–Confidential
3

Add Import Statement
 Import the Launcher class wherever the Launcher will be used

import com.immersion.uhl.Launcher;

Add Launcher Member
• Add a Launcher member to the main Activity class or other
application-wide class

private Launcher m_launcher;

14

Instantiate Launcher
 Instantiate the Launcher object once, usually in the main Activity
onCreate function
try
{
m_launcher = new Launcher(this);
}
catch (RuntimeException e)
{
Log.e(“My App”, e.getMessage());
}

Use MOTIV UHL Effect Preview App
Use the Effect Preview application from the Android Market to feel the
built-in effects and determine which effect IDs to use in your application.

15

UHL Effect Preview App on Android Market


Free Effect Preview App
 Allows you to feel the library on
any Android device

 Provides code sample for each
vibration effect shown

 Awesome on Android handsets
with TouchSense player installed
by Samsung, LG, Toshiba, Pantech
and others

 Good on all other Android handsets
from HTC, Motorola, Sony Ericsson
plus allows vibe effects not
available with standard Google
vibrate () method


UHL Library of Effects in Preview App
The UHL library contains 124 pre-designed effects.
For design purposes, these effects are grouped
into categories:

 Selection confirmation effects
 Scroll effects
 Alert/Alarm effects
 Animation Transition effects
 Game effects
 Texture effects


Play Effect
 Play a haptic effect

try
{
m_launcher.play(Launcher.BOUNCE_100);
}
catch (RuntimeException e) {}

Use Effect Preview Application on your target
Android phone to choose effect.

19

Stop Effect
• Stop the haptic effect.

try
{
m_launcher.stop();
}
catch (RuntimeException e) {}

Add this to Activity onPause function in
case a phone call is received.

20

In a nutshell, that‟s it!

If you can handle the setting up your Eclipse
environment and understand the last few slides…

Then you should be able to add cool pre-made UHL
Haptic vibration effects to your applications.

If you want more than the pre-made UHL effects, use
the free Studio to create custom effects or use the
full Immersion API for dynamic vibration control.

21

Immersion Studio
Haptic Design Tool

22

What does the Studio do for you?
 Allows you to design custom Haptic effects beyond the pre-made
124 effects found in the UHL library and is the only Haptic design
tool with a simple visual GUI
 Allows you to create complex Timelines with multiple vibe events
 Allows you to playback/test/iterate your effects on your tethered
Android device without needing to compile code
 Allows you to reference sounds files displayed as waveforms for
playback with your newly designed effects, again, without having to
compile your application code
 Allows you to export your custom effects in many different
developer formats, like Java, C…

Let‟s take a very quick look at the Studio
23

Immersion Studio Design Tool- 2 Components
 Studio and UHL to your PC from:
http://www.immersion.com/sdk
 Device Bridge app from the Android Market to
connect your device to the Studio design tool:


Full API – Dynamic Vibration Control
 Allows you direct API level control of the vibration
parameters for magnitude and pulsing frequency
instead of playing static pre-made library effects or
Studio timeline effects
 This control is also good for dynamically tying
strength and pulsing frequency parameters to in-
game speed simulations of acceleration and
deceleration for driving, flying or racing games
 This type of control is perfect for tying the strength
of your vibe playback to your in-game physics for
collisions


Downloading the Free Haptic Dev Platform
For Immersion SDK Tools:
www.immersion.com/sdk
 Download the Universal Haptic Layer UHL (300KB)
 Download the Studio
(only for more advanced custom effect design)

For UHL Quick Start Guide:
www.immersion.com/guide

For UHL Effect Preview App
 Download from Android Market

For more Resources:
www.immersion.com/developers/

Immersion UHL Plugins
 AppMobi for HTML
5, PhoneGap, Mobius Web and
Accelerate Gaming XDK available
now
 Unity 3 available now by request

Plugins available at www.immersion.com/sdk

Sign-up for our developer newsletter for all the latest
plugin news, updates and events

Newsletter at www.immersion.com/developers


Immersion‟s “Zap Your App” Campaign

 “Zap your App” campaign for Mobile World Congress (MWC
„13) event in Barcelona, Spain.
– Use Immersion UHL SDK and add “Integrated with Immersion
Haptic Effects” to your app description page
– Launch in Android Market or any other Android app store
– Tell us about your app and if it is cool, we‟ll help you promote
it at MWC through our extensive marketing efforts designed to
connect you and your app to OEM / Carrier partners
 Contact us at developer@immersion.com to participate

Immersion to Promo Your Cool Haptic Apps
 If you have a cool Haptic app, you have the potential
promotional opportunities from Immersion:
 Your app demoed to our major OEM / carrier partners looking
for bundling opportunities (OEMs are looking for your haptic
apps!!!) and demoed to most major mobile tradeshows and
conferences like MWC, DroidCon, AnDevCon, etc.
 Inclusion in Immersion‟s outreach to over 30 major technology
& review channels including:
– Engadget, PC World, AndroidPolice, Appolicious, VentureBeat, GameBeat,
Android Central, and many more
 Highlight of your app in Immersion‟s online “Featured Haptic
App” section at (developer.immersion.com)
 Inclusion in Immersion‟s publicly issued press releases
 Inclusion on Immersion promotional videos/animations,
handouts and sales materials


Haptics Effects Beyond Games
Haptics in games is natural like X-Box or PS3 rumble, but
consider other possible uses like…
 Screen gestures – swipes, slides, pinches, twists
 Social networking – virtual poking, winking, smiling, kissing
 Children‟s learning – touch confirmations & answer rewards
 Interactive 2-way videos – shared screen virtual touching
 Customizable alerts – alert patterns for caller & messaging IDs that can
be created by the user and stored as vibe IDs for any mobile contacts
 eReaders – feeling page turning, writing notes
 Apps for the seeing impaired – Haptic navi-cues or Braille text input
 Sports / Health Apps – Alerts based on health monitoring


Haptics Beyond Gaming – Example 1

You feel the This offers a
person on the more
other side of personal and
the screen connected
knocking experience


Haptics Beyond Gaming – Example 2

When
your
touch
paths
intersect
you feel
the
person on
the other
side of the
screen for
a virtual
presence


“Zap your App” Campaign
Enable your apps for bundling opportunities with our partners


THANK YOU

NASDAQ: IMMR
bobheubel or Haptics_dev

Bob Heubel | rheubel@immersion.com


Haptics for android

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