haptics

(pronounced: HAP-tiks)

Relating to the sense of touch, haptics refers to the use of technology that stimulates the senses of touch and motion. For example, on your smartphone, instead of just keyboard clicks, now you can have system haptics which give it a movement kind of feel.

Haptic feedback devices create the illusion of substance and force within the virtual world and in relation to gaming, haptics can reproduce in remote operation or computer simulation the sensations that would be felt by a user interacting directly with physical objects. Haptic research is centered on human-computer interaction specifically focusing on wearable tech and video games.

Historical perspective: The word derives from the Greek haptein meaning "to fasten."