Haptics lets computer users "feel".

• Position: Virtual Reality

Anyone who thinks a pinch means they aren't dreaming hasn't tried haptics. J. Kenneth Salisbury Jr., research professor of computer science and surgery, Stanford (Calif.) University, develops tools that allow people to touch--poke, squeeze, stroke, and heave--the objects they see on their computer screen.

Haptics, the science of touch, lets computer users interact with virtual worlds by feel. Some commercial computer games already benefit from early haptic devices, like the force-feedback steering wheels that torque and vibrate on bumpy driving-game roads. Yet, haptics isn't all fun and games. Scientists use computers to simulate not only the impact of a golf club hitting the ball, but the springiness of a kidney under forceps, the push of an individual carbon nanotube in an atomic force microscope, and the texture of clothing for sale on the Internet.

Using Salisbury's haptic technology is like exploring the virtual world with a stick. If you run your stick along a cyberspace sidewalk, it vibrates lightly. If you push it into a virtual balloon, you feel the balloon push back. The computer communicates sensations through a haptic interface--a stick, scalpel, racket, or pen that is connected to force-exerting motors. "By coordinating the forces that are exerted on your handle or your stick or your stylus or your fingertips, you can make it feel as though you're touching something," Salisbury points out.

Gaming is one of the first applications of haptics that...