History Main / PressureSensitiveInterface

** An electromagnetic field is used to communicate and get positional information from a specialized pen whose nib sensor is also pressure-sensitive for controlling brush width, opacity, tilt, and rotation. This is used by all sorts of tactile devices, including [[UsefulNotes/GeneralGamingGamepads gamepads]] like the [[Platform/OtherSegaSystems Sega Pico]].

Video gaming consoles adding this as a feature of their controllers might lead to SomeDexterityRequired --if it ends up being too CoolButInefficient, then it becomes {{Waggle}} (gameplay elements shoehorned in to exploit a console's capacity). Oftentimes, JumpPhysics depend on such a mechanic.

* TruthInTelevision. A common way of expressing frustration. Say you're in a hurry and you're trying to cross the street, and you pushed the button to cross, but the crosswalk light isn't changing. It's not uncommon in this circumstance to futilely press the button over and over. Similarly, if you click/double-click something on a computer and nothing happens, you'll be sorely tempted to do it again, even though this may just slow the action down further. People playing fighting games start mashing the buttons harder as they get more desperate, even when it's just an ordinary digital button and they're only destroying the controller.

** UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube: Its joystick has touch-sensitive shoulder buttons, with another button at the very bottom of each of the buttons. Interestingly, this was the only Nintendo controller to date to use pressure-sensitive shoulder buttons while Sony and Microsoft would go onto adopt this feature on their controllers for their trigger buttons as an industry standard.

** UsefulNotes/NintendoDS: The touchscreen can tell between a light and a hard press.[[note]]Although some games don't register light presses at all, forcing you to stab the screen with the stylus and pray you're not damaging it[[/note]]

* UsefulNotes/PlayStation2:

* UsefulNotes/Playstation3:

* UsefulNotes/XBox: The controllers, both original and 360, are loaded with pressure-sensitive buttons. Not many games use them though, as the large shoulder triggers are more intuitive for that sort of thing.

** An electromagnetic field is used to communicate and get positional information from a specialized pen whose nib sensor is also pressure-sensitive for controlling brush width, opacity, tilt, and rotation. This is used by all sorts of tactile devices, including [[UsefulNotes/GeneralGamingGamepads gamepads]] like the [[UsefulNotes/OtherSegaSystems Sega Pico]].

Video gaming consoles adding this as a feature of their controllers might lead to SomeDexterityRequired --if it ends up being too CoolButInefficient, then it becomes {{Waggle}}. Oftentimes, JumpPhysics depend on such a mechanic.

** UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube: Its joystick has touch-sensitive shoulder buttons, with another button at the very bottom of each of the buttons.

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/TheGmodIdiotBox'': To make the elevator come down faster, not only does #1 press the button by launching at it with his head, he then wails on it with his crowbar.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'':
** The time travel suit is controlled by one button on the belt buckle. You have to practically type out a command in Morse Code with it to actually do anything. The duration and pressure of the press are important.
** {{Exaggerated}} in the [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/030924 "The Simple Instructions"]] strip. A holographic Dr. Light explains to George how to access the main menu. It requires tapping the button lightly twice, then slowly three times, and so on and so forth til, twenty minutes later, George notes that he should be writing the instructions down. To nail the coffin, the guide exasperatedly tells him, "Jesus, George, it's only one button!"
** {{Parodied}} in [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/050419 "One Big Button"]] by way of a character's prank. Probably in retribution of the events in "The Simple Instructions", George starts manipulating in excrutiatingly complex ways the big button that controls the capsule's movements. When he manages to produce a [=MegaMan=] in the capsule, he answers to the doctor's confused half sentences with a condescending, "Jesus, Dr. Light, It's only one button!"
---> '''George:''' Then maybe if I turn the button another 47.5 degrees, caress the button, and tell it what a good little button I think it is... Then I'll turn the button 63.2 degrees with my left hand, sneeze on it lightly, and push it all the way down again."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]

[[folder:Real Life]]

--> '''George:''' Then maybe if I turn the button another 47.5 degrees, caress the button, and tell it what a good little button I think it is... Then I'll turn the button 63.2 degrees with my left hand, sneeze on it lightly, and push it all the way down again."

** Racing and driving games --e.g., ''VideoGame/GranTurismo IV'' and ''VideoGame/{{GTA}}''-- allow you to go faster and modulate the throttle by modifying your pushing of the X button. The square, meanwhile, handles the intensity of the main brakes. The handbrake and reverse (circle and triangle, respectively) are not pressure-sensitive. Same story for all shoulder buttons. The take-up of this feature can be credited to the first installment of ''Gran Turismo''.

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': An abandoned ship carrying the heroes that autonomously travels through parallel universes meets a universe full of hostile aliens, facing them to attack. Needless to say, Ronan is jamming on the rail gun button, then Sheppard says, "Take it easy, Chewy."

* ''Series/NotNecessarilyTheNews'': The "Sniglets" section defines the term elecceleration as thinking that jabbing an elevator's buttons will cause it to accelerate. Years later, it would get further busted by the ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}''.

* ''Series/DontHugMeImScared'': {{Discussed}}. Duck Guy thinks this principle applies to a touchscreen, and protests when Red Guy asks him to ease up.
-->''"You have to jab it hard, or it won't respect your choices!"''

* ''Series/DontHugMeImScared'': Duck Guy thinks this principle applies to a touchscreen, and protests when Red Guy asks him to ease up.
-->''"You have to jab it hard, or it won't respect your choices!"''

* ''Literature/{{Risk}}'': {{Averted}}. An experimental hyperdrive failed to work because the robot at the controls, having been ordered to pull the activation lever "firmly", pulled it so hard that it bent out of shape.

* ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'': The defunct [[TheSeventies 1970s]] superhero team the Wonder Friends had a base full of hi-tech vehicles [[{{Expy}} based on]] the Series/{{Thunderbirds}}. The old members, now part of [[TheMenInBlack Agency Zero]], still have access to them, and they still work... but the onboard AIs will only oblige to work if they are approached dramatically. Just pushing the launch button won't do. You have to SLAM it down while saying a battle cry!

* ''Series/NotNecessarilyTheNews'': The old Creator/{{HBO}} "Sniglets" section defines the term elecceleration as thinking that jabbing an elevator's buttons will cause it to accelerate. Years later, it would get further busted by the ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}''.
---> '''Elecceleration:''' The mistaken belief that repeatedly pressing the elevator button will make it go faster.

* ''Series/NotNecessarilyTheNews'':
** From the old Creator/{{HBO}} "Sniglets" section:

** The elevator example appears in the ''Series/HancocksHalfHour'' TV episode "The Lift".
** Busted by the Series/{{Mythbusters}} (elevator one).

[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Radio/HancocksHalfHour'': In "The Lift", nine passengers of a lift get stuck in-between floors due to the machine's maximum capacity having been surpassed --it supports up to eight people. When they realize this, one of them scrambles to hammer the lift's buttons frantically in the hopes of restarting it.
[[/folder]]

* ''Risk'': {{Averted}} in this Creator/IsaacAsimov short story. An experimental hyperdrive failed to work because the robot at the controls, having been ordered to pull the activation lever "firmly", pulled it so hard that it bent out of shape.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': {{Subverted}} in the filler Bount arc. During a fight in a hospital, one of the characters does the elevator button variation. The mod souls point out that that's not going to make it go any faster, but Kurodo cheerfully tells him to keep pressing if it makes him happy.

** The controller features pressure-sensitive buttons for its Dualshock 2 controllers. In theory, this allowed a single button press to be either light or heavy, and for games to react accordingly. All in all, the idea is AwesomeButImpractical due to being [[SomeDexterityRequired so difficult to get the hang of]], so the feature gets dropped for the [=PS4=].

* ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore 4'': The difficult-but-rewarding "Second-Stage Quickboost" tactic relies on the 360/[=PS3=]'s pressure-sensitive buttons. Specifically, pressing the quickboost button ordinarily will unleash the ordinary burst. However, pressing the button to the point such that it ''almost'' activates, and then activating it with a light pressure will trigger this. Quick Boost is intended to be an emergency get-out-of-the-way burst of speed; properly applied, Second Stage boosting can and will outrun enemies using their supposedly faster Overed Boost.

** UsefulNotes/NintendoDS: The touchscreen can tell between a light and a hard press.[[note]]Although some games don't register light presses at all, forcing you to stab the screen with the stylus and pray you're not damaging it[[/note]]
*** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'': In the demo, "First Hunt", light presses on the menu screen options give tooltips, while harder presses actually select things.
*** ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven'': It's programmed in a way that you can hold the stylus on the screen and flick. It also tells the difference between light and hard taps. ''VideoGame/MoaiDooWop'', in particular, requires the player to use both light and hard taps within the same game.

*** ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'': The [=GameCube=] installments of the series map the accelerator to the right trigger. Clicking the button underneath (depending on your craft) either triggers a rechargeable booster or closes your S-foils (giving you increased speed but disabling your weapons). To accelerate to max speed normally, you need to hold down the trigger without pressing the button underneath.

** The take-up of this feature can be credited to the first installment of ''VideoGame/GranTurismo''.
** ''VideoGame/TheBouncer'': The attacks are controlled by such buttons, therefore requiring great finesse to execute the various combos. Fortunately, the sensitivity can be tuned in the settings.

** Racing and driving games --e.g., ''VideoGame/GranTurismo IV'' and ''VideoGame/{{GTA}}''-- allow you to go faster and modulate the throttle by modifying your pushing of the X button. The square, meanwhile, handles the intensity of the main brakes. The handbrake and reverse (circle and triangle, respectively) are not pressure-sensitive. Same story for all shoulder buttons.
** ''VideoGame/TheBouncer'': Want to talk tricky? This Creator/{{Squaresoft}} 3D beat-em-up differentiates between light and heavy presses of the four attack buttons, and this is a critical part of the fighting system. Good luck to you if you're the kind of player who [[ButtonMashing mashes buttons]]--or even just presses down hard-- when things get intense.

* UsefulNotes/Playstation3: Its controller is similar to the [=DualShock 2=] save for the L2 and R2 buttons being pressure-sensitive triggers. This has caused porting issues with the gameplay of ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline''.

** ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive Extreme Beach Volleyball'': The harder you press, the stronger the girls spiked/served the ball. (If the feature was disabled, the A and B buttons were the "strong" buttons while the X and Y buttons were the "weak" buttons, similar to a fighting game's button layout).

** The [=PS2=] controller features pressure-sensitive buttons for its Dualshock 2 controllers. In theory, this allowed a single button press to be either light or heavy, and for games to react accordingly. All in all, the idea is AwesomeButImpractical due to being [[SomeDexterityRequired so difficult to get the hang of]], so the feature gets dropped for the [=PS4=].

This uses similar logic to TimTaylorTechnology, when giving more power to a broken device makes it start functioning again, and is the buttony version of PercussiveMaintenance, when an unresponsive device is fixed by hitting it. Compare and contrast ButtonMashing, frantically hammering the buttons of a console/controller out of some strong emotion, often desperation.

Video gaming consoles adding this as a feature of their controllers might lead to SomeDexterityRequired --if it ends up being too CoolButInefficient, then it becomes {{Waggle}}.

*** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', if you push the fire button and let go, you shoot. But, if you push the button and ''lightly'' let go, you'll holster your gun without firing a shot. It is tricky as hell.[[note]]When the first game is remade for the Gamecube with mostly [=PS2=] controls, they get around the Gamecube controller not having pressure-sensitive buttons by having you press Y, then A, in succession to holster your weapon[[/note]]

*** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterI'': The earliest incarnation of the arcade cabinets use giant pressure-sensitive buttons for Punch and Kick rather than the traditional six-button setup used today. Only after kids and angry/enthusiastic patrons destroyed the hydraulic pumps that operated the buttons via furious mashing did Capcom realize this setup was not a very good idea.

Video gaming consoles adding this as a feature of their controllers might lead to SomeDexterityRequired.

* UsefulNotes/PlayStation:

** It's also something of a UnderusedGameMechanic as, most of the time, only one or two of the buttons (out of eight) will have this functionality tapped into, and many players considered it a Scrappy Mechanic due to inconsistent differences in how much pressure is required between different functions of one button.