Batchelor: For those who somehow missed Apple’s announcement last month, what is 3D Touch? How does it work?
Wafer: 3D Touch is a new screen technology that Apple developed for the iPhone 6S and detects variable pressure placed on the screen. It works by using capacitive sensors, which can measure microscopic changes in distances between the backlight and the cover glass as pressure is applied.

Batchelor: So what opportunities does that offer developers? What does it enable them to do?
Wafer: It means we now have a much more sophisticated method of input detection. Ever since the launch of the first iPhone we’ve been limited to inputs on a 2D plane. Now we have a 3D plane; it’s not just a digital press down, on or off – it’s completely analogue. The more you press down, the more it detects, and it’s incredibly precise.

So now we have the equivalent of the analogue buttons or triggers on console controllers. That’s game-changing for mobile. It’s a leap forward and there are immediately lots of obvious applications to mobile games; applying what’s come before on console, such as pressure-sensitive brakes or accelerator pedals mapped to the analogue triggers in racing games.

Pixel Toys: 3D Touch is ‘game-changing’ for mobile devs | Develop

Pixel Toys CEO Andy Wafer talks to reporter James Batchelor about Apple’s new pressure sensitive touch-interface technology introduced with the iPhone 6S.