[webkit-dev] Haptics CSS extension

[kim.1.gronholm at nokia.com]

We at Nokia have implemented tactile feedback (i.e. Haptics) support for touch-based user interfaces and are now ready to land the implementation to the WebKit trunk. Since the real-time requirements of a realistic feel are very tight, it is not possible to implement the haptic feedback via a simple javascript event handler. We have considered various alternatives and concluded that the best and most future-proof way is to utilize CSS to specify the tactile feedback style of a web element.

Thus, we implemented a -webkit- CSS extension that enables web developers to specify the feel of an element. This is important for custom JavaScript controls to behave identically to native controls. The specification is currently at http://www.starlight-webkit.org/CSS/css3-haptics.html and the implementation work is ongoing at https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=40263. We have also been discussing about this at www-style mailing list to get feedback.

We are actively driving the standardization with the Nokia standardization team and will make any necessary changes of the final standard, if any. As it is likely that this extension will be used mainly by JavaScript libraries, we are not too concerned about the potential legacy the standardization may introduce.

Finally, the haptic feedback of web elements will be implemented in Nokia smartphones and we would like to commit the implementation to the open source even before product launch. All feedback would be more than welcome!

Br,
Kim Grönholm