Something for the blind gamer's 2020 Christmas?
CES 2020 NEWS
Teslasuit’s new VR gloves let you feel virtual objects and track your pulse
By Adi Robertson@thedextriarchy Dec 26, 2019, 1:32pm EST
The Verge
Teslasuit Product Image
Teslasuit
Teslasuit — known for its full-body haptic feedback suit — is
introducing a glove that can let users feel virtual textures and gather
biometric data. The device is called simply the “Teslasuit Glove,” and
it will debut at CES in January, with the goal of shipping by the second
half of 2020.
Like the Teslasuit, the Teslasuit Glove is meant for training, medical
rehabilitation, and other professional applications. It combines several
different technologies to simultaneously create the impression of
touching and holding objects, capture the motion of users’ hands, and
record pulse and other biometric information. The gloves can also be
paired with the suit over Wi-Fi to offer nearly full-body motion capture
or haptic feedback for virtual reality.
Teslasuit is one of several haptics and motion control companies that
launched during the mid-’10s VR boom, appealed initially to consumers,
then shifted to business customers. It launched the suit on Kickstarter
in 2016, but it canceled that campaign and officially announced its
first product in 2018. It’s since demonstrated potential applications in
astronaut training, emergency evacuation drill practice, and other
simulation scenarios. The creators aren’t ruling out gaming and
entertainment possibilities, but at around $5,000, this isn’t a home
headset accessory.
Teslasuit Glove Product Image
The Teslasuit Glove will compete with existing products from companies
like Manus VR and HaptX. While it doesn’t tout the hyper-fine feedback
you can get from a device like HaptX’s glove, Teslasuit is seemingly
distinguishing itself with a breadth of features. The gloves include
basic haptic and force feedback capabilities: an array of nine
electrodes on each finger produce the sensation of touching a
nonexistent surface, while a plastic exoskeleton creates resistance and
vibration to simulate interacting with solid objects.
On top of that, the gloves capture the motion of a user’s wrist and
fingers. And they include a pulse oximeter that gathers information like
the user’s heart rate — which can help indirectly measure stress and
other physical reactions to experiences. This whole spread of features
is similar to that of the Teslasuit, which gathers biometric and motion
data and simulates physical feeling with electrical stimulation. Sadly,
while Teslasuit says CES attendees can check out the suit, they can’t
try the gloves yet — they’re still going through testing.
Update 4:00PM ET: Updated Teslasuit’s description of the testing phase.
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