How Haptic Feedback Is Reshaping the Wearable Device Experience

1.The Problem with Small Screens
2.What Haptic Feedback Actually Does in Real Use
3.Why This Technology Matters More Now Than Before
4.What Bestarsensor Brings to This Problem
5.Conclusion

The Problem with Small Screens
The biggest problem with portable gadgets is their display size. The screen is so small that there's not too much to be seen, nor is it so loud that it can't handle being played in a noisy environment. It's hard to pay attention and time to a wrist display, whether in a meeting room or on a busy street. When alert, a sound plays, which is embarrassing for the user, if in a quiet office. Both of these don't appear to be good solutions with the emphasis these days on privacy.
Users need their devices to communicate to them and not bothering anyone else. They seek instant feedback to be honest, perceptive and individualized. They don't want to have to pause their task to check a notification.
This is the point in which haptic feedback comes into play. A subtle vibration can communicate a wide range of information, without requiring one single pixel of brightness to the user or even one single decibel of sound. It is quick, low-profile and surprisingly expressive. During the day, the wrist receives signals from the physical world all around. A haptic actuator is simply an additional channel to that already experienced.

What Haptic Feedback Actually Does in Real Use
Speaking about haptic feedback without going into specifics is almost like saying a car is a vehicle. Anyone who says “vibration” will need to be specific when talking about haptic feedback because that is not quite the best approximation.
Consider notifications first. A long repeating pulse can be employed on a telephone call. You can alert the user with two short taps and a delay with a calendar alert. Only one soft knock may be required for a text message. They are quicker to learn by the user than ring tones or alarm sounds are. What differentiates these patterns is they are not audible to anyone other than the wearer of the device. 
A safety engineer receives a warning from one of the pieces of equipment on the factory floor, via his wrist, which he can keep on the task at hand with both hands.
Navigation is another good application. bikers and runners are not able to safely look at a screen. A haptic feedback actuator in a wrist band is able to provide directional feedback through various vibration patterns applied on left or right wrist. Bend left which is a pulse on the left. As you go into the turn, notice the pulses increase. The way forward is made “the body's language,” without the eyes and ears being involved.
Haptic feedback really becomes useful in health monitoring. These are events that call for awareness for the user when their HR increases, irregularity occurs, blood oxygen decreases, etc. A sharp and clear haptic feedback is faster and more reliable than a little screen notification. The user don't have to look. The message reaches the skin level where no one can miss it.
Then there is the category that distinguishes premium products from commodity ones: interaction quality. Mechanical watch crown gives satisfaction in indicating the time when the watch is turned. The physical keyboard is used and has snap. With just a touch screen, the user has none of that. An actuator that has a good linear response can simulate the sensation of an actionbar or a scroll list's gear resistance during interaction, or the soft click sound of a virtual button or the subtle bump at the end of a scroll list. Some of these small tactile moments can add up. They help create an inevitability from a product, rather than make it mass-producible. That is the difference.

Why This Technology Matters More Now Than Before
The wearable device market is an emerging market that has come a long way in a short amount of time. Between similar priced products in most product categories, the hardware on offer is quite similar. In terms of processing power, screen resolution, battery life and wireless capabilities, there are no significant differences between brands anymore. When considering two smartwatches that come at a similar price range, buyers may be unlikely to notice that they have much difference in their specifications.
It's the experience layer that's the place where the difference now resides. How does an actual usage of the device feel? What is their mode of communication?
There are only a few remaining pockets, at hardware and software level, where experience differences can be made meaningfully. Haptic feedback is one of the last ones where experience differences can be introduced at a low level. A device using a good actuator and effectively-designed haptic patterns, feels drastically different to a device utilising a basic coin type motor and a single buzz. But that difference is not small. It's felt right away by users. It has an impact on their insights towards build quality, software quality, and brand reliability even before they start testing any other attribute.
Another practical challenge has been the power. In the past, haptic feedback was not state of the art in terms of power consumption. When there is a screen on, there is current going through all the time. Playing audio with a speaker will be the same way. A haptic pulse, on the other hand, has a dwell time of milliseconds and is then halted. Either the energy cost per user interaction is very low, or very low energy reduction is realized when performing each user interaction. 
Medical-grade wearables, glucose monitors, fall detection bands, and cardiac monitoring patches all must be able to capture user attention in a variety of settings. A notification method which is useful indoors, outdoors, in loud environment and also for the users who have hearing impairments. While screens and speakers can't always make such an impact, haptic alerts do this.

What Bestarsensor Brings to This Problem
There are lots of businesses offering vibration motors to provide. Bestarsensor has done the different. The beginning is in the hardware. Bestarsensor is a manufacturer of actuators in mini size dedicated to small, sensitive applications. Not generic parts that can be inserted into a wearable for various purposes. Not all-purpose parts that can be used for different kinds of wearables. They are developed from practical experience with the ability to fit within the limited space and power constraints of wearable product teams at actual field usage.
Bestarsensor will work with the B2B customers throughout the entire development process. This involves structural advice during development, thermal and mechanical modelling before production, selection and matching of driver chips and tuning of the haptic pattern after the hardware is installed. Partnering with a single supplier from design validation through mass production eliminates unnecessary handoffs, streamlines communication, and ensures a faster, more efficient transition from prototype to full-scale manufacturing.

Conclusion
Haptic feedback technology is no longer considered a luxury and have become integral in any serious wearable device. Users who have grasped good haptic design don't want to see it fall back into merely buzzing devices again. The market is already tending that way, and the products that will occupy market share during the next market cycle will be those which understood the experience and grasped it in the design phase.
Whether it is a wearable project, if you want to discuss with the Bestarsensor engineering team about options of haptic actuators, integration requirements, prototyping support or other requirements, feel free to contact us. Technical documentation, samples or a direct conversation with respect to using the specific application is possible.