Ever wanted to feel what it's like to get shot? Me neither. But if your curiosity is piqued, you'll want to check out the latest haptic displays at CES 2023,
While an array of AR devices and VR devices has dominated the displays at CES so far this year, haptics have had a promising feature, from gloves to vests and 'head cushions', all of which simulate touch and sensations in Virtual Reality.
Bees with bHaptic
From being shot with a bullet to feeling bees buzzing around your body, bHaptics' vest and glove combo enables users to feel real, tactile sensations in virtual reality.
According to bHaptics CEO Kiuk Gwak, their haptic vest would let consumers "feel the wind or rain or even bees" while exploring virtual worlds. Haptic is cemented as a key technology that will enable more immersive and realistic interactions in the metaverse, as well as improving augmented reality and virtual reality's use in design processes.
Expected to be especially useful for gamers, the haptic vest can simulate the feeling of action and movement in virtual worlds, with the gloves adding a sense of touch. According to bHaptics' website, these are the "first consumer-ready wireless haptic gloves", sporting 4hrs use time with a light and stretchy fabric for maximum comfort.
But bHaptic weren't the only company to show off new technology, with gaming goods giant Razer debuting a neck cushion called 'Project Carol'. While this neck cushion isn't designed to make your travelling experiences more comfortable, it is designed to make gaming experiences more immersive.
Project Carol will put gamers "firmly in the middle of the action” by augmenting already-immersive video games, by enabling them to "feel everything behind them". The head cushion comes with surround-sound audio and haptic vibrations, marking itself as the next bit of gamer gear making gaming even more immersive.
