Virtual reality is often said to enter through the eyes, but once you put on a headset, your hands are the first thing you reach for. Beyond being tracked correctly, they need to receive tactile feedback when you manipulate a virtual object. With that in mind, a group of engineers at Rice University has created Hands Omni, a system of haptic gloves that use small air chambers to simulate the sense of touch.
Why Touch Matters
Beyond the solutions under development, the key to virtual reality's success is delivering good experiences. Many have called the Oculus Rift 'the future', but from a strictly technical standpoint, it's a screen in front of your eyes. Virtual reality needs to deliver more, which is why we've seen projects based on omnidirectional treadmills and body sensors. Touch (or its absence) is one of the great barriers to overcome. We can hold all kinds of objects inside a virtual environment, but our hands never receive any response from them unless another device steps in.
Hands Omni: Haptic Gloves with Air Chambers
Enter Hands Omni, a new haptic glove system created by Rice University engineers. So far, most projects focused on generating a tactile sensation have relied on small motors that cause vibrations, but Hands Omni is different. The prototype (currently limited to the right hand) features air chambers at the fingertips that change volume according to the virtual weight of each object and the force with which it is held. For greater comfort, its creators have tried to place most components on the forearm, yet the glove still weighs 350 grams, leaving plenty of room for optimization.
Hands Omni's main sponsor is Virtuix, the same company that will launch its treadmill at some point this decade (new date: August 2015). One of its main requirements has been to keep technical details secret, which makes us think of an upcoming commercial launch. We are about to enter the fifth month of 2015, and virtual reality still has many rough edges to smooth out. Developments like Hands Omni are headed in the right direction, but if they could hurry up a little... that would be great.
