bHaptics demo (images via Engadget)
Back in 1997, I was introduced to the DualShock controller for the original PlayStation, and I was blown away by the vibrational feedback while playing games such as Ace Combat and Metal Gear Solid. By no means were the Dualshock or even Nintendo’s Rumble Pak (for N64) the first examples of tactile feedback in the gaming world, no that honor belongs to Sega’s 1976 arcade classic Fonz (yeah, of Happy Days fame)- a motorcycle racing game that featured vibrational-equipped handlebars that ‘buzzed’ when the player crashed into things, very ‘uncool’.
Technology has certainly advanced since then, and we’ve now entered the AR/VR era where the term ‘immersion’ takes on a whole new meaning- instead of viewing games on flat panel displays, we can now be in them, or rather in those worlds, and haptic feedback came with us. Devices such as Go Touch VR’s VR Touch, Tactical Haptics’ Reactive Grip Controller, and Hapto’s VR Gaming Controller will help to enhance that immersion, but those can only go so far and are nearly similar to most every console handheld controller on the market today. South Korean tech startup bHaptics want to change that by incorporating force feedback into a full-body suit, not just the controllers. Enter the TactSuit-
(Image credit Engadget)
Unveiled earlier this month at HTC Vive X demo day (in Beijing), bHaptics’ TactSuit goes beyond vibrational feedback controllers as the suit features a haptic mask, a pair of haptic sleeves and vest, all of which add up to a whopping 87 feedback points located throughout the kit. Each of those points is powered by rotating mass vibration motors with 20 on the front and back of the vest, seven located in the mask and 20 on each ‘Tactosy’ forearm sleeves.
The advantages of using the suit are obvious- imagine a game character hitting you with a blunt object and the impact (non-bone crushing) being felt in the specific area hit or playing an FPS and being able to feel where you were shot with virtual bullets. The possibilities are endless. In fact, bHaptics tested the suit at Seoul’s Lotte Amusement Park between March and June of this year, garnering feedback from nearly 40,000 players who dropped themselves into a horror-survival game known as Zombie Attack.
Motor locations on each piece of TactSuit gear. (Image credit Engadget)
The suit is currently still under development, and as such will not be ready for the commercial market, however developers can get their hands on at least the sleeves by contacting bHaptic directly. As far as programming the TactSuit, developers can make use of bHaptics’ Tactosy Studio platform, a web-based editing tool that’s pretty simple to use. Just upload your content, locate the area within the program you want to add feedback, choose the type of feedback, intensity, suit area and export the contents to that position. bHaptic provides a brief tutorial on how to do this and can be found here.
Even though the suit is still under development, bHaptics’ feel confident that their TactSuit will ultimately be cheaper than that of its rivals, including Nullspace VR’s Hardlight, which retails for $549 and features significantly fewer feedback points. While technically not a full-body suit, it will be interesting to see what can be done with it when it eventually hits the market.
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