Force Feedback is essential to enjoying sim racing. US-based vehicle software company Marble Labs attempts to turn this aspect of our favorite hobby on its head with a newly-announced haptic architecture.
After first appearing in arcade racing games as early as the 1980s, Force Feedback has conquered sim racing at least since 1997 when Microsoft introduced its Sidewinder Force Feedback Wheel - generally considered to be the first FFB wheel available to consumers.
While the hardware for has evolved considerably since then, the software-side evolution of FFB has not seen jumps that have been quite as drastic - although the current crop of racing sims certainly is leaps and bounds ahead of the titles of yesteryear thanks to a combination of both.
However, Las Vegas-based vehicle software company Marble Labs wants to get things moving at quite a drastic pace. It has patented "a revolutionary vehicle dynamics engine and haptic architecture", according to their press release (the full version of which is attached to the end of this article).
Having developed software for Advanced Driver Assist Systems and Automated Driving solutions, the company is now trying to tackle sim racing via a rethink regarding haptic feedback relayed to the player. Marble has patented a system called 'Position Control Haptics', which "delivers a pure, physics-based, accurate output that is not dependent on a pre-determined effects-based haptic architecture - the first patented alternative to force feedback, an archaic 30-year-old standard."
On paper, this sounds like a remarkable step up in how sim racers will be able to feel a car and how it interacts with different surfaces, which are ever-changing depending on how they are driven on. And if the promises of the Unlimited Drive system hold true, it might be the answer for those sim racers who long for a proper open-world driving simulation.
Marble Labs Co-Founder Chad Laurendau explains: "Anyone with behind-the-wheel experience should be able to enjoy a high-speed digital driving experience. And those with track experience should be able to turn fast, consistent laps and aggressively drive the car… dancing on the pedals to modulate weight distribution, tossing it into corners, and using the curbs to rotate the vehicle."
With the goal of a more natural feel for driving and racing simulations, Marble Labs certainly has lofty ambitions for the systems they are devloping. Demo videos of the systems in action are already available on the company's YouTube channel. We have embedded one with a yet-to-be named NASCAR driver at the wheel below.
It is certainly an exciting time for sim racing developments, as Marcel Offermans' The Last Garage demonstration turned heads at the beginning of the year. The engine of the former Studio 397 dev also promises big strides in sim racing physics and was met very positively at Sim Formula Europe 2024, where visitors could try an early build of the project.
What do you make of Marble Labs' announcement and intentions? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
After first appearing in arcade racing games as early as the 1980s, Force Feedback has conquered sim racing at least since 1997 when Microsoft introduced its Sidewinder Force Feedback Wheel - generally considered to be the first FFB wheel available to consumers.
While the hardware for has evolved considerably since then, the software-side evolution of FFB has not seen jumps that have been quite as drastic - although the current crop of racing sims certainly is leaps and bounds ahead of the titles of yesteryear thanks to a combination of both.
However, Las Vegas-based vehicle software company Marble Labs wants to get things moving at quite a drastic pace. It has patented "a revolutionary vehicle dynamics engine and haptic architecture", according to their press release (the full version of which is attached to the end of this article).
Having developed software for Advanced Driver Assist Systems and Automated Driving solutions, the company is now trying to tackle sim racing via a rethink regarding haptic feedback relayed to the player. Marble has patented a system called 'Position Control Haptics', which "delivers a pure, physics-based, accurate output that is not dependent on a pre-determined effects-based haptic architecture - the first patented alternative to force feedback, an archaic 30-year-old standard."
An All-New Way To Feel Racing Sims?
To support the system, Marble is developing three further technologies. The press release explains them as follows:- Digital Contact Patch™ (DCP) provides breakthrough surface awareness to quantify the driving surface as never before. After decades of development, today’s driving games still consider a single grip value per surface per tire (with up to 8 points of resolution) state-of-the-art. Marble’s DCP utilizes over 16,000 points of resolution and grip in each contact patch, which is processed in real-time — it’s where the rubber meets the road.
- Dynamic Multi-Surface™ (DMS) provides an unparalleled road feel. DMS is Marble’s proprietary virtualized geometry system that increases surface detail far more than what’s been possible before in a real-time driving simulation — no more predefined static surfaces. The dynamic surface types and real-time surface wear and deformation provide infinite variability in the driving experience — bringing the road to life.
- Unlimited Drive™ provides an unconstrained virtual playground for all drivers by combining Marble’s simulation platform with Google Earth — delivering the driving world to the desktop. The proprietary platform offers an unlimited user-definable vehicle simulation experience based on expansion modules and content creation tools (UGC).
On paper, this sounds like a remarkable step up in how sim racers will be able to feel a car and how it interacts with different surfaces, which are ever-changing depending on how they are driven on. And if the promises of the Unlimited Drive system hold true, it might be the answer for those sim racers who long for a proper open-world driving simulation.
Marble Labs Co-Founder Chad Laurendau explains: "Anyone with behind-the-wheel experience should be able to enjoy a high-speed digital driving experience. And those with track experience should be able to turn fast, consistent laps and aggressively drive the car… dancing on the pedals to modulate weight distribution, tossing it into corners, and using the curbs to rotate the vehicle."
With the goal of a more natural feel for driving and racing simulations, Marble Labs certainly has lofty ambitions for the systems they are devloping. Demo videos of the systems in action are already available on the company's YouTube channel. We have embedded one with a yet-to-be named NASCAR driver at the wheel below.
More Big Physics Strides?
With physics as in-depth as this, the question of hardware performance inevitably comes up. Should it require a high-end PC to run, they might not be able to take off in the short term. Then again, developers have found their way around hardware limitations for decades, so it will be interesting to see if the developers can implement a solution.It is certainly an exciting time for sim racing developments, as Marcel Offermans' The Last Garage demonstration turned heads at the beginning of the year. The engine of the former Studio 397 dev also promises big strides in sim racing physics and was met very positively at Sim Formula Europe 2024, where visitors could try an early build of the project.
What do you make of Marble Labs' announcement and intentions? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!