VR hasn’t even come close to mastering its visual illusions yet – but already some corners of the industry are settings sights on our other senses.
A company called VRgluv is developing a virtual reality glove that allows users to “feel” their way through the virtual world.
At the moment, VR controllers can read input through physical movement, but other than vibration they provide no tactile response for the user. You can swing your arms about all you like, but an Oculus Touch controller can’t let you clasp the grip of a golf club or feel the resistance of a stiff trigger.
Here’s where the VRgluv steps in. Using hand tracking, variable force feedback, and force sensitivity, the globe let users feel objects. Resistance within a user’s grip simulates the shape of virtual object: be that a baseball or a bat.
Thanks to real-time input about the user’s grip strength, the VRgluv can also simulate soft objects like balloons.
Though the coolest thing about this hardware is that it also inadvertently makes wearers look like the dark lord of Middle-earth. Check it out.
“We set out to enhance everyday life through VR, so we had to decide where to start. Which senses should we attack first? Vision, hearing, and touch,” VRgluv’s creators said.
