Researchers have put the technology to the test already and found that their subjects could follow a game through vibrotactile sensations once they were trained on what the different vibrations meant. Part of the team’s challenge is to develop a Braille-like system of vibrations so that people can intuitively understand what each vibration means, said the Swedish researchers. They are also working on a more sophisticated technology that allows cell phones to switch to a streaming video mode to replay a goal once it has been scored. Once the vibrotactile technology has been perfected in the future, the team plans to combine it with visual and audio information to create the ultimate soccer experience. When commercialized, the tool will be available through the Swedish-based company Videoakt AB. For now, soccer hooligans will have to content themselves with reading the research, appearing in the upcoming issue of IEEE Transactions on Multimedia. [Via PhysOrg]
