[News Terms] Feeling Virtual Reality at Your Fingertips... 'Haptic Technology'

At CES 2024, the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA, the 'Phantom' by American wearable device company Afference received the Best Innovation Award. This device, worn on the wrist like a glove, incorporates haptic technology. When wearing a VR headset and the Phantom on the hand, the sensation of digital objects seen in front of the eyes is transmitted to the hand and arm. Electrical signals delivered through the skin directly stimulate the brain's tactile nerves, creating the illusion of actually feeling touch. The company explains that it can be wirelessly connected to extended reality (XR) devices such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), and can also be used with any device including smartphones, PCs, and gaming consoles. At the pre-opening event of CES, 'CES Unveiled,' Korean startup BeHaptics attracted attention with suits and gloves that allow users to feel realistic touch and vibrations in games.

Phantom developed by the American wearable device company Afference.
[Photo by Afference website]

Haptic technology enables users to feel tactile sensations, force, and motion through input devices such as keyboards, mice, joysticks, and touchscreens on various digital devices. The term comes from the Greek adjective 'haptesthai,' meaning 'to touch.'

A haptic device is a mechanical apparatus similar to a robotic arm, designed for interaction between the user and a virtual environment. Users issue commands to the virtual environment through the haptic device and feel impacts or tactile sensations coming from it. This provides much greater immersion than using VR devices alone, and the tactile feedback makes VR feel more realistic.

For example, in 3D and 4D cinemas, seats move in sync with the screen to convey a sense of speed or impact, making the audience feel as if they are part of the scene. When shooting a gun in a game, the joystick may actually vibrate. NASA’s simulator team has developed haptic devices for fighter pilot training.

When developed as remote operation robots, users wearing haptic gloves can feel the shape, movement, weight, and hardness of distant objects, enabling delicate tasks. It is also possible to perform simulated surgeries on virtual patients by connecting 3D computer images with surgical equipment. The sensation of tools touching the affected area and the feeling of touching the patient's skin tissue are transmitted, creating an environment almost identical to actual surgery.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.