A controller developed at Carnegie Mellon University allows computer users to manipulate three-dimensional images and explore virtual environments not only through sight and sound, but by using their sense of touch.
The device, expected to be used mainly for research, training and industrial purposes, comes close to the sensitivity of the human hand.
Using magnetic fields, the socalled haptic device replicates the response a hand might have to textures and gravitational forces, the devices convey the sense of touch.
The controller — like a joystick topped with a block that can be grasped — has just one moving part and rests in a bowl-like structure connected to a computer. Two of the controllers can be used simultaneously to pick up and move virtual objects on a monitor.
Researchers had built 10 of the devices, six of which were to be sent to other universities across US and in Canada, and that a new company, Butterfly Haptics, would begin marketing the device in June or July.
The controller, which will cost “much less” than $50,000, could enable a would-be surgeon to operate on a virtual human organ and sense the texture of tissue or give a designer the feeling of fitting a part into a virtual jet engine.
The interface might also convey the feeling of wind under the wings of unmanned military planes.

A giant carnival mask representing Pope Benedict XVI is paraded during the Viareggio annual carnival on January 20 in Italy.

The carnival of Viareggio is considered to be among the most renowned carnival celebrations both in Italy and Europe. It is characterised mainly by the parade of floats and masks, usually made of paper-pulp, depicting caricatures of well-known personalities such as politicians, showmen and sportsmen.



Giant carnival masks representing Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi (left) holding the mask of his political adversary, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, and Berlusconi holding Prodi's mask in turn, are paraded through the streets of Viareggio during the traditional carnival parade on January 20.



A giant carnival float depicting US President George W. Bush as a monkey inside a cage is paraded through the streets of Viareggio during the traditionnal carnival parade on January 20.



A giant carnival mask representing US presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton holding US President George W. Bush by the ear is paraded through the streets of Viareggio during the traditional carnival parade on January 20.



Italian comedian Beppe Grillo waves at the people on January 20 during the traditional carnival parade in Viareggio.



A giant carnival mask representing French President Nicolas Sarkozy as a monkey inside a cage holding a heart with the picture of girlfriend Carla Bruni is paraded through the streets of Viareggio during the traditional carnival parade on January 20.

WELL-PROTECTED... A model displays a design made out of condoms during a fashion event in downtown Kuala Lumpur. Organisers claim that the fashion event, in which local designers showcase creations made out of condoms as part of HIV awareness, is the first of its kind to be held in Muslim-majority Malaysia.



CAUGHT IN THE ACT... French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his model-turned-singer girlfriend Carla Bruni ride a felucca, a traditional Egyptian sail boat, on the River Nile in Luxor December 26, 2007.


MAKING A SPLASH... A man dives into the Tiber river from Rome's Cavour bridge during the New Year Day's tradition, January 1, 2008.


COLOURS OF PROTEST... People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals(PETA) activists, displaying painted bodies to the colours of M&Ms candies, hold a protest in front of M&M's World store on Broadway in New York. PETA activists held the protest accusing candy-giant Mars, of funding painful and deadly tests on animals in its candy research.


BIRD FLU BLUES... Indian health officials hold a chick prior to culling birds at the village of Margram, some 240 kms north of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, January 16, 2008.


ITS THE LARGEST!.. Japan's electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial unveils the prototype model of the world's largest 150-inch sized plasma display panel (PDP) TV, measuring 3.31m in width and 1.87m in height, at the company's Amagasaki PDP plant in Hyogo prefecture, western Japan January 8, 2008.


WED-LOCKED: Newly elected African National Congress (ANC) President Jacob Zuma (R) attends his wedding ceremony, January 5, 2007, some 400 kilometres north of Durban. Zuma married his fourth wife and mother of his youngest children in a ceremony at his homestead.


MOHARRAM MOURNING... Muslims mourn during a Moharram procession in Ahmedabad on Thursday.


HEAR US OUT... Hijras - eunuchs - dance during a show as part of a protest in Siliguri, January 8, 2008. A non-governmental organisation run by the hijras, is demanding the right of entry for the hijras into the neighboring state of Sikkim which is denied by the Sikkim Government.



FISHY AUCTION... Fishmongers check the quality of meat on large tuna fish at this year's first trading day at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, January 5, 2008. A 276kg tuna was traded at 6.07 million yen (55,700 USD) at the wholesale market auction.


RAW BITE... Can Iraqi soldier eats a freshly killed rabbit as troops show their warfare skills during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of authority transfer to Iraqi forces in the Shiite Shrine city of Najaf, January 10, 2008.