Up until now, the “Vibration” function of a cell phone has been pretty basic; i.e. your phone ringer is off, but if it’s in your pocket or otherwise touching you, you can feel it vibrate. If it’s on a table you can hear the buzz.
The new frontier is, “communicate information through people’s skin,” as haptics pioneer Karon MacLean, of the University of British Columbia, puts it.
With the increase in wearable tech, if your phone is in your purse or briefcase, new options now include the possibility of vibrating a watch, belt buckle, or even finger or ear rings.
In the Gadget Lab article, “Soon Your Tech Will Talk to You Through Your Skin” the author uses “Tech” to mean Technology. In Veterinary Medicine, we use “Tech” to mean Veterinary Technician. I imagine Tech-DVM comm as just one of the potential veterinary future applications.
For example, when the DVM is spending too much time with a client, the Tech might use a pattern to, “Vibe the Doc” using an internal code, all without the knowledge of the client. This avoids the uncomfortable interruption of someone entering the room and breaking up the conversation. Another code might mean, “Important phone call for you” – or any number of other types of communication to or from any member of the vet staff. Some ward care staff might not hear a ring or page over the barking, but they can feel a variety of vibration messages, even when their hands are full and cannot pull out a phone.
There is a Cell Phone App ready to begin doing all this today, called “Mumble!” by HyperByte Communications (free on Google Play). This App “Takes over” the vibration function built into your smart phone, and replaces that basic function with the ability to “interpret” your texts. Therefore, today a person could send you a Text using the code you have arranged. The App includes settings for:
Vibration Frequency:
Vibrate every word, or every 3 or 5 words which gives you an indication of the length of the message.
Vibration Limit;
Max number of words to vibrate for.
Vibration Intensity:
Intensity and Length of vibrations mimic the words of the Text. (mumble mode)
Communicating “Excitement”:
All lower case word = Low Excitement
All lower case word with one ! = Some Excitement
Sentence case with two !! = High Excitement
All CAPS WITH >2 !! = Very High Excitement
Syllables in each texted word
“Stuff” = one vibration
“Coconut” = three vibrations close together
Space between words.
Word Emphasis:
In a phrase, greater vibrations for certain words.
The Old is New again. Arguably the FIRST form of Telecommunication was the Morse Code. It might be coming around into style again soon, but this time with EXCITEMENT!!!!
Rolan