Samsung may be at it again. If a new recently published patent is anything to go by, Samsung could enable parts of the display to vibrate only where you touch, mimicking the feel of physical buttons. In smartphone tech, it’s called haptic feedback and a recently published patent says Samsung would provide precise, location-based vibrations, offering a more interactive experience for future Galaxy phones.
Samsung’s future phones will vibrate where you touch, according to patent
First spotted by our friends at MSPowerUser, Samsung’s new patent details how the company wants to make touch interactions feel more realistic, by enablling vibrations wherever you touch. But you might wonder, how does it work? Well, multiple tiny vibration motors, combined with touch and press sensors, would sit under the screen and edges of the phone. When you touch a specific spot on the display, these sensors would detect the exact location and trigger vibrations at that point.
If and when this comes to future Galaxy phones, it could change the way we interact with our devices. For example, when typing on the keyboard, you might feel as if you’re typing on a physical keyboard due to the vibrations. That’s just one possibility. I’m hopeful that devs will make the most of this technology.
Personally, I’m excited about how it could enhance the gaming experience, particularly in first-person shooters when reloading ammo. For what it’s worth, Samsung has experimented with similar tech before, starting with the Galaxy S8 in 2017. Now, it seems the company may be ready to bring it back, but in a more refined and efficient form.
It builds upon the haptic features introduced with OneUI 6. It offers more control over vibration intensity and placement for each type of interaction. For now, it’s unclear whether Samsung will bring this to future phones, as companies like Samsung often file multiple patents as part of their R&D process. Another recently published patent hints that Samsung is indeed working on rumored tri-fold smartphone to take on the Huawei Mate XT.
