Haptics

Training firefighters can be dangerous, costly and time-consuming. To help train firefighters more often and more easily, a new virtual reality simulator called the FLAIM Trainer has been developed, made up of an HTC Vive VR headset, haptics systems and a vest that tracks the trainee’s vital signs.

Anyone who's played a full-scale VR game knows how insanely immersive and real this tech already feels. And the next step is to find a way for people to actually feel virtual objects. The shapeShip tabletop unit developed at Stanford is the latest device designed to bring the sense of touch to VR.

​When you're practising yoga in a class, there's an instructor who can guide you through each pose. When you're doing it on your own, however, you pretty much just have to hope you're getting it right. That's why Nadi X "smart" yoga pants were created – they're like an instructor that you wear.

Facebook has written a check for some Purdue College research into haptic technology that can not only alert you to new messages through your skin, but read them too.

To try to add a bit more physical feedback to VR, Disney Research has unveiled a prototype wearable device it calls the “Force Jacket,” which uses a set of inflatable bags to simulate pressure and force in time with visuals.

French startup Aurasens is taking CES music lovers on a "visceral, trans-sensory journey" in Las Vegas this week as it launches its high-end audio recliner. The hi-fi chair uses haptic touch points to gently massage the listener as music plays through a pair of headphones.

Some day, even stopping for a rest on a bench at Disneyland might be an attraction, thanks to a mixed reality prototype called the Magic Bench. Designed to make AR more of a group activity, it allows people to interact with animated characters in 3D space, and even feel them through haptic feedback.

How we interact with ordinary objects in virtual reality worlds could play an important role in selling the user experience. Disney researchers have been exploring these possibilities with a proof-of-concept system that enables users to catch a real ball while immersed in a VR.

It’s easier than ever for long-distance couples to stay connected, but if Skype calls and texting aren’t quite enough, the Flex-N-Feel glove, developed by researchers at Simon Fraser University, can help transmit the touch of a hand.

Our CES demo with Cerevo’s Taclim haptic boots and gloves left us unimpressed. It also made us realize that haptic foot feedback is low on our VR wishlist.

Though Vive's wands, the Oculus Touch controllers, and to a far lesser extent, the PSVR's Move wands, do a reasonable job of bringing hands into VR worlds, feet are another story. Soon, we may be able to, almost literally, step into the shoes of our VR avatars with Cerevo's Taclim.

Worn around the neck, different parts of the OmniWear Arc will vibrate at different intensities to give a 360-degree indication of enemy and teammate positions beyond a player's field of view, and it may even find applications outside of the gaming world.