ForcePhone Brings 3D Touch-Like Tech to All Phones

No iPhone 6s? No problem. New software could give any smartphone the capacity to sense force or pressure on its screen and body.

Developed by University of Michigan engineers—and inspired, in part, by a Batman movie—ForcePhone offers a new way to control your mobile device.

Apple last year introduced its own haptic feedback software for the 12-inch MacBook (Force Touch) and iPhone 6s and 6s Plus (3D Touch). The latter's display supports multiple pressure points; push slightly for a preview of something (location on a map, a photo), or all the way to open it in full screen or the accompanying app.

But unlike 3D Touch, ForcePhone doesn't need a special screen or built-in sensors.

 "Now this functionality can be realized on any phone," Kang Shin, computer science professor with the U-M Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, said in a statement. "We've augmented the user interface without requiring any special built-in sensors."

Lnk to article: http://www.pcmag.com/news/344804/forcephone-brings-3d-touch-like-tech-to-all-phones