A beautiful feature of adaptive and inclusive design is that it usually benefits everyone, not just its intended audience. And long before such terms entered the public realm, many designers looked toward ergonomics or emotional cues to lend a distinct anthropomorphism to many of their objects. The Trutru Haptic – created by JUE Design and Research Studio (JUE) in collaboration with Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Intelligent Human Machine Mechanical Interface Lab (IHMMI Lab) – is one such device leaning into the playfulness. With programmable “personalities,” interchangeable arms, and custom temperature settings, this delightful device serves as a technological companion communicating through satisfying tactile and textural feedback.
An amorphous, jelly-like creature with a diffused glow, TruTru is designed to be held close, clipped on, and kept nearby. Its advanced haptic system can replicate textures of natural and man-made materials like stone, sand, feather, and fabric as well as ephemeral sensations including rippling water, falling rain, and the flutter of wings.
By precisely modulating friction, temperature, and tactile rhythm, TruTru achieves an impressive degree of realism and responsiveness. This helps create a sense of closeness, with texture and temperature feedback that is gentle but satisfying, resulting in a sense of calm and security through what JUE calls a sensory language of care.
TruTru is not a one-size-fits-all object; it evolves across four modes that respond to context clues, mood, and intention. Four distinct characters – Muu, Shu, Wuu, and Huu – each with their own color, home climate, personality, and characteristics enhance the breadth or response across the family of devices.
Companion Mode
Small but mighty, TruTru behaves like a tiny being with a big personality and rhythm all its own. It emits a soft glow in anticipation of touch, growing in luminescence as the user approaches. Upon contact, it initiates tactile expressions, becoming more and more informed based on past interactions, moods, and memories. Users can fine-tune reactions to align with personal preferences or double tap the device to prompt new expressions.
Meditation Mode
Developed with researchers and meditation experts, this setting offers soft, rhythmic feedback – much like those naturally occurring but amplified to fully appreciate embodied presence. Its modular straps allow TruTru to accompany users from a quiet room to the outdoors to urban spaces and more. Tactile cues help reinforce grounding and focus especially while moving through stillness and breath work.
Sleep Mode
Sleep Mode is designed to gradually transition into rest, starting a bit more active and winding down to a calmer, more steady stream of feedback. While falling asleep is not simply the flip of a switch, biorhythms can help down regulate the nervous system, creating a sense of calm. In this mode, TruTru’s thermal feedback holds between 91.4°F and 65°F – something warm without overstimulation. Its aura dims to near invisibility, or can be turned off, so sleep remains undisturbed.
Custom Mode
Beyond its core modes, TruTru empowers users to personalize their tactile, haptic experiences. One such example may be a “Kid Mode,” uniquely configured for higher activity. This would utilize brighter light patterns, sounds, and temperature cues to match the energy of a child elevating a fun toy to a trusted companion.
While conceived as a lifestyle object, TruTru also shows strong potential in therapeutic contexts, from aiding recovery and regulation in clinical settings to supporting individuals navigating anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, Autism, or dementia. By reimagining haptics as a design language for connection and care while bucking trends to go touchless, TruTru points toward a future where technology doesn’t just inform but can also soothes, ground, and provide company.
Continued collaboration between JUE and the IHMMI Lab promises an expanded TruTru family with the potential to offer new personalities, forms, and tactile expressions suited to evolving contexts, from therapeutic to the creative and beyond.
To learn more about Trutru Haptic from JUE, please visit juedesign.com.
Photography courtesy of JUE.
