Adding Sense of Feeling to VR (Virtual Reality)

Get a Virtual-Reality Punch, Feel Real Impact

Researchers in Germany have developed technology for an armband that lets you feel impact from virtual interactions.

John Pavllus | November 11, 2015

Imagine playing a virtual-reality boxing game, complete with a menacing opponent aiming a haymaker at your head. You get your gloves up in time to block the punch, but you feel no impact when it hits, breaking the otherwise immersive experience.
Impacto, a prototype developed by researchers in the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) lab at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany, sidesteps this deficit in mainstream VR experiences. The technology consists of an armband that combines basic haptic feedback (a tap or vibration on the skin) with electrical muscle stimulation to push or pull the user’s limb in a way that convincingly simulates a physical impact.

Tokyo-based startup H2L is currently in the process of developing the Unlimited Hand, a virtual reality armband.  Source: http://beautifuldecay.com/2015/10/02/unlimited-hand-virtual-reality-armband-brings-simulation-screen-hands/

<more at http://www.technologyreview.com/news/543291/get-a-virtual-reality-punch-feel-real-impact/; related links: http://beautifuldecay.com/2015/10/02/unlimited-hand-virtual-reality-armband-brings-simulation-screen-hands/ (http://beautifuldecay.com/2015/10/02/unlimited-hand-virtual-reality-armband-brings-simulation-screen-hands. October 2, 2015) and http://www.roadtovr.com/project-impacto-is-designed-to-let-people-really-feel-virtual-reality/ (+Video) (Impacto: a wearable that simulates physical impact in VR. September 9, 2015)>