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| Meta develops touch gloves for virtual reality |
Meta introduced a new paradigm for futuristic virtual reality. This time it is a tactile glove that enables the wearer to experience the feeling of real things when interacting with real things in a virtual space.
When you wear this pair of gloves, you'll be sure that what you're holding in your hand is the original (or something similar), even though the item is entirely digital.
Long before Facebook officially changed its name to meta — a signal to the world that it was getting more serious with virtual and augmented reality technologies — the company began revealing key elements of the metaverse it envisioned.
The Meta Quest 2, or earlier Oculus Quest 2, is one of the best wireless virtual reality headsets.
Recently, Meta Reality Labs, the company's research and development division, launched a wrist-worn device that converts nerve signals from electric actuators into digital controls.
He also unveiled the Project Cambria helmet, designed to support photorealistic avatars and advanced eye tracking.
According to Michael Abrash, chief scientist at Meta Reality Labs and Shaun Keeler, director of scientific research at Meta Reality Labs, the tactile glove has been in development for several years but is still on the verge of release.
But that gauntlet is another part of the company's big picture of virtual and augmented reality. The combination of scene, sound, and touch makes the expanded digital world more realistic.
“We are trying to understand how we can give you rich feedback so that your hands can be useful,” Abrash said. This is an essential point and one of the most difficult and dangerous in the long run. But once the problem is solved, virtual reality can become an environment where almost anything is possible, and you can do it.
The overhead glove makes you feel the VR stuff
The problem that Meta is trying to solve is a real one in VR, and other companies are trying to solve it as well. When you wear VR glasses, you are cut off from the real world.
Navigating in VR becomes easier when you wear a VR headset with reverse tracking technology - this term is often used to describe sensors and cameras that capture your surroundings.
But when you try to capture virtual objects with your hands, the concept of virtual reality becomes problematic again.
The controls are easy to use, so you can navigate the menus or play games while wearing the headset. However, most of these items are input devices. And it won't give you the tactile feedback you would get with real hands.
Meta Reality Labs has been researching this current prototype for seven years. It has pledged to spend at least $10 billion on Metaverse hardware, software, and apps this year alone.