The newest frontier in gaming technology is virtual reality (VR). In what might be the most exciting piece of news to emerge from the field recently, a group of mechanical engineering students at Rice University has focused their efforts on the tactile aspect of the VR gaming experience – producing a prototype VR glove that gives users the sensation of actual touch within a game.
There are already “haptic gloves” on the market, but the new gloves use pressure to replicate the sensation of touch instead of vibration, which has traditionally been used. Practically, the new glove holds a series of air bladders which inflate and deflate as a player “touches” an object in a VR game.
Developed in association with Virtuix, the Hands Omni glove is only in the prototype stage – the details of how it works are yet unknown. Each glove weighs around 350 grams (0.7 lbs), which developers claim keep them unobtrusive to a users. It is also wireless, allowing for as much freedom as possible in a VR environment.
Watch the new glove in operation in the video below:
