Visual elements dominate the mobile user experience. This creates a pressured, synchronous relationship between the user’s attention span and the device. MEX Pathway #9 asks how other senses, such as sound and touch, could be employed to create a new class of digital interactions, free from the constraints of the visual channel. Nokia’s Head of Design, Marko Ahtisaari, has previously highlighted the importance of this direction in future Nokia products. A recent patent filing from the company for ‘directional’ haptics revealed how the company might use numerous individual actuators to deliver high fidelity touch sensations to the user’s hand. The US Patent Office has the application and All About Symbian has this write-up.

Marek Pawlowski

Marek Pawlowski is the founder of MEX. Since 1995, he has focused the MEX business on helping digital industries to develop better, more profitable products through improved understanding of user behaviour with mobile devices and wireless networks. MEX is best known for its events, research and consulting, which balance commercial, technical and user insights to define the future of mobile user experience.

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