Visual Haptics

"Today I learned about visual haptics". I wrote that note two days ago in my little handy dandy notebook. Spiral, small enough to fit in a back pocket, rip away sheets, and lays flat on a desk. The 7th iteration of notebook I've purchased in recent years and perhaps, for the qualities listed that enable it to be, the best notebook yet because it strikes the right balance of note-keeping vs note-fleeting without note-hoarding.

And what I'm writing about today has nothing to do with visual haptics. Or that great notebook. But maybe it does. I'm writing because 2026 is the year I write. I want to sit with my thoughts more. I've wanted it for quite some time, but it's hit a point where its just too uncomfortable not to stretch, caress, and smoothen them out into something that makes sense. Kinda driving me crazy not too.

So visual haptics. I was remaking my personal portfolio (as every sane person does once a year) and created this fun carousel to visualize the things i've built. Right, show don't tell - no one has time to scroll, click, and read paragraphs. So now you can just swipe. That's cool. But it'd be cooler if there was sound. As i constantly expose myself to great work, it's clear that visual, like the body and it's five senses, is lacking by itself. I mean literally for the same reason as the body - we are wired to explore and use all our senses, and the experiences that stimulate a fuller range - that make us feel alive and present - are more memorable (for purposes of pleasure or protection). Software, being a thing in this life, works the same. So I added sound. I'm not a sound engineer, but it sounds some-what like a tactile gear that clicks on each ridge. How my apple watch crown would sound if it was amplified. But instead you're scrolling my digital portfolio, a digital portfolio crown. And upon asking for ways to make this even better (a never-ending quest), gpt-5.2-high informed me that i could add visual haptics. What does that even mean?Oh shit. That'd be cool. So now the cards in the carousel will "pulse" as if they are physically hitting each ridge/click on the wheel. Visual feedback to tell me that the this carousel is physical, real.

I tweeted a couple days "how do i learn this" in reference to the goat Apple designer bringing such deeply thoughtful and delightful 'real world' touches to the Apple Pencil experience. and I think this answered it: do stuff. Learn by doing. That line is surely something you and your neighbor have heard before, but just like the concept itself, doesn't click until it happens. Until you do stuff. So ima keep doing stuff. disclaimer: i know there are levels to doing stuff and by no means is the visual + audio haptics on that carousel as clever or magical as the pencil design, but maybe one day it will be

So that's visual haptics. And this is also my public announcement that 2026 will be the year I actually write. I'm going to do it before the perfect moment. The perfect moment will never come. It's Christmas morning and there's a packed list of half-opened ideas that may never get written about if I wait for the perfect time to finally start writing. (now the funny thing is, that's exactly how they will get written about.) I'll never find the right time to go through everything I've always wanted to write about in the past. So I may as well start fresh now. Starting fresh feels nice. I think it will be fun to write again. And I'm already having fun right now. So I'll leave it at that.

Merry Christmas, 2025.