Haptic Feedback: The Next Frontier for VR

Have you tried out those fancy VR goggles yet?

It seems like they’re everywhere from corporate events to your local library. And if that’s not your cup of tea, there are AR apps out there for nearly every use!

Fancy Snapchat filters first come to mind, but I also recently saw these mirrors at a L’Oreal booth where you could try out makeup with AR *(UBER chic!)* 🎀

Here we see the AR that has taken over society (or the female-teenager part of it at least…) 😁

And we haven’t even started to talk about the gaming industry yet…

Sony, Microsoft, Google, Nintendo: all these companies are leading their new gaming consoles in the direction of AR/VR.

But with fewer people being hardcore gamers, the most impressive addition is how these immersive technologies are reaching ordinary mobile games. Your phone is now literally the door to a new world. 🌎

With all these increasingly common uses, this new technology is starting to feel less and less like that futuristic marvel.

So what’s the next step for AR/VR to bring another level of immersion for its many uses?

Well in the skunkworks of the world’s leading labs, they’ve been trying to let people experience media through another sense besides sight and sound: *touch*.

Welcome to the world of haptic feedback: the technology that lets you explore media with an entirely new sense!

You can imagine the file’s rough texture and hear it grinding. But what if you could reach out RIGHT NOW and feel it?

“Hey, Doc. I’m feeling things that aren’t there! What’s wrong with me?????? 😟”
“Don’t worry. It’s just that newfangled haptic tech. It’s not that scary once you know how it works.”

Okay, I’m no doctor, but I’ll still explain how the technology works.

Think about the last time you went somewhere with LOUD music. Could be a concert, a festival, or your neighbour’s souped-up Nissan… 🤬

Remember how you could almost feel the vibrations? That’s similar to how haptics work, but with two key differences:

1. Haptic systems don’t just blast vibrations in every direction like your obnoxious neighbour.
2. Any loudspeakers you’ve encountered probably have low, audible frequencies (BASS LEVEL 9000 🎧). Haptics use ultrasound instead.

So haptics are powered by sound waves causing vibrations, but the sound waves target specific points and they’re ultrasound (so we can’t hear them). With these targeted, inaudible sound waves, we can control where vibrations occur without loud annoying noise.

And by controlling vibrations, we can control *exactly* what people feel (ex. Want to feel like you’re pushing a button? Just make the tip of your finger vibrate).

Here, speakers are targeting ultrasound specifically at the centre of the hand. You can feel vibrations there as if you were pressing down on something.

Fine Sound Waves and Vibrations are Cool, but Why Should I Care?

Like, even with all that exotic tech, it’s not like you can go out and lift Thor’s hammer with this right?

Well… haptic tech may have just the thing for that. For the most obvious use for the technology, consider the recent VR video games.

From shooting zombies in the dark to swinging from rooftops like spiderman, we’re always trying to capture those unrealistically magical experiences out there.

Well, haptic technology’s primary use is perfect to enhance these magical experiences. Tools like these haptic gloves allow people to hold virtual objects, whereas specialised fake guns provide real sensations while shooting.

HaptX and other companies are making gloves that help us feel virtual objects.

And there are applications beyond just video games of course. For instance, this pen-like haptic brush helps engineers work more closely with CAD designs.

3D Systems’ Touch X mimics everything from scalpels to pens, useful in virtual design.

To be honest though, I wasn’t very easily impressed by these mostly-luxurious uses. That’s when I was surprised to hear about how haptic technology was helping surgeons save lives.

I don’t know how much you’ve thought about it, but it’s kind of hard to y’know… REARRANGE human beings without messing anything up 😱.

That makes it really hard to train people how to be future surgeons. You can’t exactly give it a test run on patients… and VR simulators don’t teach the physical skills you need.

So companies like FundamentalVR are creating realistic simulators, where future surgeons can get the feel for the job (pun intended ;-)

VR training only requires fundamental hardware like the monitor, headset, and haptic devices.

Some companies even started by creating video games… (so the next time your parents are complaining about Fortnite, tell them it’s step 1 of learning to be a surgeon 🤣!)

And the crazy healthcare applications don’t stop there.

A lot of procedures are becoming automated these days. But the problem is that it’s hard to get complicated machinery and trained professionals to operate it in most places.

So NASA and the US military has been creating healthcare robots that can be controlled *remotely* by healthcare professionals using haptic interfaces. Just think about that for a second.

A skilled surgeon at an urban hospital could remotely perform life-saving surgeries AROUND THE WORLD, almost identically to real life!!!!

It’s easy to discount haptic technology as just another frivolity without practical use, but there’s a lot of potential along with existing AR/VR technology. We’re getting closer and closer to seamlessly artificially recreating the human senses.

Of course, the technology is still in its infancy. Just compare it to the prevalency of AR/VR and you’ll see how much room it has to grow.

But the technologies aren’t mutually exclusive. As AR/VR grows, haptic technologies have more opportunity to be integrated with them.

So maybe one day, you can add doggy ears to yourself on Snapchat and feel them too…

Key Takeaways

1. AR/VR technologies are becoming more commonplace, giving haptics more room to grow.
2. Haptics work simply by targeting ultrasound in specific places to create vibrations.
3. They might seem like tech. gimmicks, but they have life-saving uses such as enabling remote surgeries and training designers.

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