Virtual reality can hit and burn

Engineers have developed several new gadgets that will be a great addition to the virtual reality helmet.

One of them is the Impacto bracelet , created in the Human-Computer Interaction laboratory at the Institute. Hasso Plattner (Germany). The bracelet combines tactile feedback (vibration on the skin) and a muscle stimulator for electrical muscle stimulation using electrodes.

Connected to a computer with a virtual reality application, the bracelet transfers blows from virtual reality to the hand. This is an indispensable gadget, for example, for fighting games and boxing simulators.

Scientists believe that such bracelets can be worn on the feet in simulators of football and other sports. However, this is a slightly dubious assumption. Imagine that your leg muscles contract arbitrarily, in accordance with the events in a computer game. For example, your character rushes rapidly along the flank, but suddenly a two-meter-long defender jumps out from the side: a rough tackle - the muscles contract and you fall to the floor of your apartment. So you can break the dice, and not in the game, but in the real world.



So far, the bracelet realistically transmits beats lasting no more than 200 milliseconds, but the developers promise to find a way to transmit longer-term effects on the body. For example, prolonged friction against a fence in a car racing simulator, if the pilot did not fit into the turn.

Impacto Bracelet is a very specific gadget. In addition to punches and kicks, there is nowhere to use it especially. But this is a good addition to a set of wearable electronics, which transfers the effect of various influences from virtual reality objects to the body. It is important that here for tactile feedback some motors with batteries are not used, as in other gadgets, so that the bracelets come out quite compact.

Another device from this kit - Power Claw glovesthat convey the heat and cold of objects from virtual reality. The Mexican company Vivoxie is already taking pre-orders for them at a price of $ 358. The prototype was recently demonstrated at Gamescom 2015 in Germany.







Like the bracelet, Power Claw gloves are also compatible with the Oculus Rift virtual reality helmet. The device generates a feeling of warmth, cold, vibration, and also conveys the texture of objects that a person touches inside the virtual world.

Thanks to the three-finger actuators, gloves recognize gestures and are suitable for use in more traditional interfaces. The developers believe that gloves are convenient not only for games, but also for many other applications, including educational, medical, engineering, etc.