Actronika is offering the most immersive virtual reality experience to visitors at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), which will be held from March 21 to 25, 2022 in San Francisco. The startup will present Skinetic, a haptic vest that integrates touch into virtual experiences, allowing users to feel all sensations in VR as if they were in the real world.
Have you ever put on your virtual reality headset and wanted to touch and feel what was happening in the virtual world, like in Ready Player One? Have you imagined feeling branches scraping across your chest as you move through the jungle, a curtain of water falling on your shoulders as you pass under a waterfall, or the breath of a monster sneaking up behind you?
This was all science fiction... until now!
With over 30 years of expertise in haptics (the science of touch), Actronika has created a device that allows you to feel more real-life sensations for unique virtual experiences: the Skinetic vest. It brings a totally immersive experience: the user can feel every drop of rain in a storm, the wind near a cliff, or even the impact of bullets.
Unique haptic technology
The Skinetic vest is equipped with 20 vibrotactile voice-coil motors that allow it to reproduce a vastly rich range of sensations. The different sensations that the vibrations produce are highly distinct, and much more realistic than what exists on the market today.
Skinetic provides localized sensations and can actively track the user's position in real time to provide realistic haptic feedback. For example, if it's raining in your virtual environment and you lean forward, you can feel the water running down your back, or on your chest if you lean backward, just like in the real world!
An unexplored field of possibilities
Skinetic allows the user to feel not only the blows and impacts of the virtual world, unlike other existing haptic products. Actronika has created for the very first time a device that reproduces many other effects: the whooshing wind of an approaching subway, leaves gently falling on your shoulders, or the splashing water when you are paddling on a river... the possibilities are endless!
These interactions can be at the forefront of the virtual world: far from an afterthought! When they are well designed, the user’s VR experience will become much more immersive, closer than ever to real life.
One thing is sure, the Skinetic vest promises to be a sensation!
Come and test it on Actronika's booth #N2811 in the French Pavilion at GDC from March 21 to 25, 2022.
