The 'Exoglove' and Virtual Reality

When we think about the senses we use to interact with and perceive a virtual world (such as a movie or a video game), we generally only consider the ability to see and hear as our ways of interacting with that world. However, one Chinese robotics start-up is trying to add a third sense to virtual interactions: touch. The start-up, named Dexta Robotics and based in Shenzhen, China, has developed and demonstrated a so-called "exo-glove" that provides force feedback to the wearer.

The glove, dubbed Dexmo, is designed to motion capture palm movements and lets you feel objects in a virtual environment. It accomplishes this through force feedback, meaning when your fingertips collide with something virtually, the device will prevent your fingers from moving any further, as if you had just touched a solid object.

When thinking about the applications for this technology, the first logical jump is to gaming, as it would give players a more interactive experience. With the advent of the Oculus Rift system (set to release commercially in 2015) developed by Oculus VR, Virtual Reality or VR technology in gaming has become increasingly in vogue. The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality head-mounted display that visually immerses the user into the virtual world.

The Oculus Rift debuted as a prototype in 2012 and raised $2.4 million in crowd-funded money, displaying the public interest in VR technology. Investors are also interested in the tech as the Oculus VR company was acquired by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg in March of 2014 for $2 billion.

As you can see, the popularity of virtual reality gaming would make touch feedback a valuable technology. However, this technology has applications outside of just gaming.

On the Dexta Robotics' Kickstarter page, they detail other uses for the product. One such use is interacting with or controlling robots. You would be able to control a robotic hand or arm and have a better sense of presence when working in difficult environments. Having this ability with robots could be useful in a manufacturing setting or perhaps for use in defusing bombs!

Another ability of the Dexmo is the ability to interact with and control RC devices.  Dexmo has 11 channels of analog output so it could be used to control smart household devices like lighting or TV. It can interact with computer programs as well and could be used for music production or making digital art. One very practical potential use demonstrated by the creators is the ability to translate sign language.

As you can see, virtual reality and more specifically the ability to touch in virtual reality, has numerous practical applications. As VR technology becomes more popular, I am sure research and development in the area will continue to grow and create uses for the technology that we may not have even though of yet!

Logging off...

Matt

Images taken from Google Images.