- It looks like a prop from a Predator movie, but a device like this is one step on the path to achieving genuine VR immersion, which can’t happen without feelings of touch and taste.
- Meta aims to scale up to thousands of actuators which could go a long way to simulating an essentially unlimited range of scenarios.
- There’s a long way to go before such technology goes mainstream.
- Meta hasn’t revealed any details about availability, expected pricing or a name.
Facebook-owned Meta is developing a haptic feedback glove that will give touch sensations to its nebulously defined Metaverse VR and AR worlds as reported by PC Gamer.
A step ahead
Sure, it looks like something out of a Predator movie, but a device like this is one step toward true VR immersion, which is impossible to achieve without the senses of touch and taste. We have no idea how to avoid the latter, but even if we could, would we want to? VR will need technologies like this to break out of its entertainment and pleasure only reputation and become a commonplace component of life and work.
Simulation
People can touch, feel, and control virtual items the same way they would a real one, according to Reality Labs director Sean Keller (via Gizmodo). Depending on the virtual object being handled, the glove has triggering actuators that impart pressure to the hand. Is it, however, cool or just a gimmick?
Meta aspires to grow up to thousands of actuators, allowing it to simulate an almost infinite number of scenarios. Sporting events, video games, and handshakes are all popular, and let’s face it, sex sells, so there’s bound to be a slew of new apps in the works.
But then there’s the issue of privacy and security. Before such technology becomes mainstream, there is still a long way to go.
Cool or flop?
Despite Meta’s lofty intentions, its glove isn’t the first attempt at producing a haptic feedback device, and let’s be honest, it looks unpolished, awkward, and years away from release, assuming it ever gets released at all. There’s also the need to persuade the general public that virtual reality has real-world applications beyond entertainment. Before that happens, it appears that we have a long way to go.
Meta hasn’t released any information on availability, cost, or a name for the project. We all know it’s not going to be called the Power Glove. Time will tell whether this technology finds a real-world use, or whether it is remembered as a cool notion or a complete flop.
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Source: PC Gamer
