There are companies that are looking for a way to offer a much more investing experience when using virtual reality , so much so that they want you to even feel it hit your body. One of them is bHaptics, responsible for the TactSuit vests .
TactSuit, vests for virtual reality
In the past, there have already been companies that have presented various proposals with which they have sought to offer a much more immersive experience when, for example, enjoying Call of Duty-type video games or similar. However, now there are some that are taking advantage of the latest advances in haptic technology to make all those sensations capable of transmitting in compatible applications are much more realistic, especially when used within a virtual reality environment.
bHaptics is a Korean company that during CES in Las Vegas 2021 has presented two new haptic vests designed to be used together with different virtual reality headsets and applications that can be found in stores such as SteamVR or Oculus’ own. Of course, not everything is in two simple vests, there are also other accessories for arms, hands, feet and even the face. But let’s go in parts.
The vests, which are possibly the elements that those most committed to virtual reality bet on, although they are not especially cheap. On the one hand there is the TactSuit X16 , a vest with 16 vibration points that would cost 299 euros. On the other hand, the TactSuite X4 0 that offers more than twice the vibration points compared to the other model and together with greater precision, it would also have a logically higher price: $ 499.
However, according to the company itself, these vests would be able to make the user feel in a way that could not be achieved solely and exclusively through what would be seen through VR glasses or heard through headphones capable of reproducing 360 audio. .
And if all this is still not enough for you, bHaptics also sells other accessories such as the aforementioned arm sleeves, wristbands or other accessories for the feet and even the face . It may sound crazy, but it would be the only way to really feel how virtual reality hits you.
A risky investment
The problem with this whole bHaptics bet? Well, we could almost say that it is the same as virtual reality itself: getting the user to invest in it. Because it is true that the number of titles has grown significantly in recent years, only on SteamVR and for Oculus Quest bHaptics says that there are more than 50 titles compatible with its products, but it still costs.
There are many users who, seeing what happened from the beginning and after so many promises that seem never to be fulfilled, not all are willing to invest certain amounts in glasses plus the corresponding necessary PC that is needed to move the entire experience with some of these helmets. If you also want accessories like those from bHaptics and their TactSuit, then even less, because you can spend more than 2,000 euros and then half stay in the bottom of a drawer.
However, the positive part is that all these developments that are being made now will be used in the future. And if one day it breaks and billions of users make use of VR glasses every day to watch series, movies, play video games or have work meetings, the feeling of reality will be much greater than it is today. could imagine.
Will we ever live in the Ready Player One style? Maybe yes, surely even someone would already sign something similar seeing the current panorama.