Haptic Gloves With Thermal Cues For AR And VR Are Here !
What’s going on everyone and welcome back. Today I like to introduce you to WEART based on my latest review video which is a wearable XR tech startup who built a wearable XR device called TouchDIVER, this device is a haptic solution that brings sense of touch to AR and VR with the help of multiple indexes like forces, vibrations, texture feelings, and thermal, which in cert1ain levels it could be hot or cold.
This sounds super cool I know and the best thing about it is that users can feel the tactile properties of virtual surfaces and materials like wood, plastic, stones, and textiles. The stiffness, however, is sufficient to feel the pressure of objects being touched regarding shapes and design. In addition, thermal cues work promptly to deliver the temperature on any object. The best part is that these points of strength have very low latency and can be combined to provide users with the optimum emotional experience.
This cool TouchDIVER can also be used in bimanual applications with three-finger actuation points per hand. The product is plug-and-play, and the SDK enables the integration of tactile cues in projects developed with several engines, including Unity and Unreal Engine.
Inside The TouchDIVER Box
This device feels very premium and the packaging is honestly beautiful as you can see from all the photos below which I took during the open box part of my video review. In this box you will find the following components:
Wrist Band
Control Unit
3 Haptic Thimbles
6 Finger Size Adapters
USB Dongle
1 HTC Vive Tracker Adapter
1 Universal Controller Adapter
USB charger cord and USB charger and adapters
TouchDIVER tech details
Platform requirements (for now): USB Dongle, PC and Middleware (Desktop application)
Finger tracking integrated using thimble sensors
External reference for wrist tracking on XR (XR Controller, HTC Vive tracker, cam system, and others)
TouchDIVER from my point is an amazing idea, the device is great and it provides very unique tactile feelings, however I did run into a few issues when trying to get the device to connect, the light indicator on the controller is not very intuitive, every time I would connect it to power it would turn on and off not telling me that it was charging, I even got to a point where no lights would come up, however reading the manual I was able to find how to use a pin to reset the unit which then became responsive. The SDK is great and super easy to use. I love how I can set different parameters to various objects by simply using prefabs and they also provide great ways to apply different effects.
Where to Purchase
A question you may ask is how can people purchase TouchDIVER today? And what is the device price?
Currently you can request TouchDIVER by going to this WEART Request Link and according to their website it ships within 6 days when the device is in stock and 4-6 weeks for pre-orders when product is out of stock. The device ships to the US, CA, and EU.
Pricing
The price of one TouchDIVER is $4,500 USD and $8,000 USD for a pair, this includes SDK and updates and dedicated on-boarding by WEART team.
You may think the price may sound high, but technology like this can help save people’s lives. Imagine having a physician train with such realism that a real world operation can feel just like a training session? What about industrial type training where attention and care for details is critical for performing various tasks? Even entertainment, you could now have a tactile feeling of what touching a dinosaur feels like and see it right in VR or AR !
Road Map
Finger Tracking Improvements
Porting Standalone (Meta Quest, Meta Quest 2, PICO, ML2, and HoloLens 2)
Haptic Texture editor
Note: All of the features above in the Road Map will be released to any clients who currently own a TouchDIVER or are planning to get a new TouchDIVER.
To wrap this up let me ask you the ultimate question…would you consider using this for your future VR or AR experience? If so feel free to follow me in Twitter if you need more information.
Thanks everyone !
