We got a second look at the Novint Falcon at DigitalLife 2007, and it’s every bit as cool as the first time we saw it. The only difference is you can actually buy it now.

Ever want to touch your games? Don’t answer that. In January, Shoes and
I stumbled upon possibly one of the coolest things to hit gaming in
some time. A company called Novint plans to bring a technology
previously only available in the private sector to the consumer level
and their primary target is gamers. That’s right, what was previously
quite an expensive piece of technology is now available to the public
for around $240.

While walking the floor today, I ran into them again and was eager to
actually be able to sit down for a long period of time. The gentleman
who helped me was very patient as I quite literally took over the
Half-Life 2 station and proceeded to go through the levels. If you
haven’t read our coverage from CES 2007 allow me to inform you on the
innovation that is the Novint Falcon.

Previously, the most immersion we could attain was a mouse, keyboard,
5.1 audio, and force feedback. Now imagine if the force feedback was
more than just a little vibration, but something that impacted you
directly according to the environment. As you can see from the picture,
your handle is a sphere with mounted buttons. The center button was
your fire and as the bullets flew, the Falcon would pull the sphere
away and up as if there was actual recoil. While driving the hover boat
in HL2, there was significant resistance and glide while using the
Falcon. For example, while driving along the water and taking a sharp
turn against the water, I would have to apply quite a bit of pressure.
However, once the boat spun the way I wanted and maybe started to glide
a bit, I would feel a release in the direction I was turning and
incredible force to counter steer due to the water.

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is one product that you simply can’t describe without getting your
hands on it. It brings a whole new dimension to gaming and immersion.
Novint has motors inside that actually work against you and control the
sphere as much as you do. For instance, one demo has a big ball in the
center of the screen with different textures on its surface. You can
use the Falcon to run your hand along the surface and feel the
textures. They turned the sphere to a rubbery gel consistency and I
would feel resistance while pushing forward, but it would bounce back
like rubber would. If I pushed hard enough, it would actually pop
through and the resistance would disappear. It truly is a unique
experience.

What’s the catch? Well, unfortunately due to the level of immersion and
the control this baby allows, it has to be programmed for each game. To
play HL2 with the Falcon, you must install the Haptics mod. Haptics,
from what I gather, is the name they are using for this type of
physical interaction. Mods are quickly being developed for many games
and they are working closely with as many developers as they can. Come
mid-October, you will be able to purchase the Falcon at CompUSA.

Personally, I would give this some time to mature and support more
games, but definitely something I would purchase when and if it becomes
a standard.

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