The computer ball, after all, is just a string of geometry data plotted on x, y and z axes. Inside a black box that Massie designed are tiny motors that send force against your finger in just the way a real ball would. You have to try it to get the feel for it. It's time to address what naughty minds are surely thinking by now. Happily, however, there are many more productive uses for a haptic interface.
Scientists can actually feel each atom.
The visual age is about to meet the tactile age. But without hands, we couldn't build. We couldn't even conceive of building something.