Resource: Bringing Halloween Decorations to Life with Haptics

Halloween is the perfect time of the year to let your creativity shine. From costumes to decorations, there are so many different ways to show your festive spirit. But what if I told you there was a way to bring your decorations to life with haptics?

The idea of a haptic Halloween decoration started when one of our colleagues brought a variety of decorations to the TITAN Haptics office. One particular decoration, a doll head, had a neck diameter that almost perfectly matched the wrist diameter of a skeleton hand. We couldn’t resist the opportunity to combine the two, to create a unique and spooky decoration—a DIY Babyface. And of course, being a haptics company, we also couldn’t resist the urge to ‘haptify’ it.

How to Create A Haptic Halloween Decoration

Materials Needed:

1x Halloween decoration doll head
1x Halloween decoration skeleton hand
1x TITAN Carlton Haptic Motor and mount
1x TITAN Core
2 x Red LEDS
3M tape
Wires
Hot glue gun

Steps:

To increase the creepiness factor, we attached the TacHammer Carlton motor on a 3D mount and used 3M tape to secure it into the hollow shell of the skeleton hand. 

The TacHammer Carlton was then wired to our TITAN Core, and we used our Vector Haptics library to program different effects.

We then glued LED lights inside the doll’s eye sockets to amp up the creepy factor. They were also wired to and powered by the TITAN Core. 

The result? A creepy, baby doll head attached to a mummy hand that felt alive. The decoration was able to produce a range of different haptic effects, such as a heartbeat that gradually picked up pace. Every once in a while, it would shiver, too, further adding to the illusion that it was alive.

With haptics, you can create other dynamic Halloween decorations, too. Other fun ideas include:

• Haptic Haunted House: Add haptic effects to your haunted house decorations, such as vibrating walls or objects that move and shake when touched.
• Haptic Graveyard: Create a graveyard scene with tombstones that vibrate or emit spooky sounds when approached.
• Haptic Witch’s Cauldron: Make a witch’s cauldron that vibrates and bubbles when touched, adding an extra level of realism to your Halloween setup.
• Haptic Ghosts: Hang ghost decorations that have haptic motors inside, making them feel like they’re floating and moving when touched.
• Haptic Spider Webs: Attach haptic motors to spider web decorations, creating a tactile experience when someone walks through them.

Haptics is all about fun and creativity. Whether it’s a DIY Babyface, a haunted house, or floating ghosts, haptics can add a unique and exciting touch to your Halloween decor. So, try adding haptics to your Halloween decor!