Virtual Reality is everywhere nowadays, with more and more companies releasing their own iterations everyday. From Google Cardboard to the HTC Vive, most of the VR technology in the market functions in pretty much the same way. A VR headset fits over your eyes, and visually separates you from your physical space. Images are then fed to your eyes from two small lenses making it seem as if you are immersed in a completely different world. Taking a virtual hike through the Grand Canyon or touring the Louvre is quite amazing, but what if you could actually “feel” the virtual environment that surrounds you?
In their attempt to stray away from the VR norm, AxonVR an up and coming company in San Luis Obispo, California, attempts to integrate haptic technology into their VR, making for a truly sensory experience. Haptic or kinesthetic technology mimics the sense of touch by relaying mechanical forces and vibrations. Such stimulation is utilized to assist in the formation of virtual objects in a computer system, to control these virtual objects, and to enhance the sensory experience for the user.
There are three components to AxonVr’s haptic technology. First comes HaptX, which is a haptic textile that mimics touch, communicating the texture, shape, motion, vibration, and temperature of virtual objects. HaptX is a thin, flexible haptic wearable material consisting of many microfluidic actuators, which are the fluid based mechanisms that simulate motion and force. By changing the pressure and temperature at each respective actuator, HaptX can simulate sensations varying from the brush of a butterfly’s wings to the impact of a punch.
Then comes the HaptX Skeleton, which is an exoskeleton that applies physical forces to your body, making for a truly lifelike experience. HaptX Skeleton magnifies HaptX’s haptic capabilities by employing force feedback. It detects body position and directs forces to represent the shape or weight of virtual objects. HaptX Skeleton is programmed to assist or resist motion, thus producing the full breadth of lifelike experience. Just like real life interactions, the exoskeleton provides the reaction force one would feel, only now in the virtual world.
With these two technologies, AxonVr hopes to create a world indistinguishable from reality.