Virtual reality is an integral part of the metaverse, but we are still far from the metaverse we saw in movies like Ready One Player. We may be able to bring our hands into the VR world, but we do have our sense of touch when doing something like, say, picking up an object in the virtual world. However, companies like SenseGlove solved that with, well, SenseGlove and now, Meta has offers a look at its solution.
While it appears Facebook Haptic Glove is similar to the SenseGlove, it is not quite. Developed by Reality Labs Research, the haptic glove is a result of soft robotics. It uses hundreds of tiny, soft motors that move in concert to deliver a sense of touch across your hand.
Moreover, it can lock your digits at a certain position to simulate the sensation of grabbing onto something in the VR world. The haptic glove also touts the world’s first high-speed microfluidic processor:
“… a small microfluidic chip that controls the air flow that moves the actuators. The use of air (a fluid) means we can fit many more actuators on the glove than would otherwise be possible with electronic circuitry.”
The breakthrough VR glove also boasts advanced hand-tracking to precisely identify where the hand is in a virtual scene, whether the hand is in contact with a virtual object et cetera.
And then there’s the haptic rendering that enables the actuators (the tiny, soft motors) to enable you to feel the properties, such as texture, weight, and hardness, of the virtual objects.
This haptic VR glove is part of the many components required to enable metaverse to materialize. While there is progress, it is far from close to being a real product VR users can use. Meanwhile, you may learn more about this exciting development HERE. You can also see Mark Zuckerberg giving the glove a go in the video posted on Facebook.
Image: Meta Platforms, Inc.
