A jacket equipped with sensors that allow the wearer to feel hugs or even bumps in virtual reality was one of the innovations that gave the metaverse a more realistic edge at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2022 technology fair.
“What is the metaverse if you can’t feel it?” asked José Fuertes, founder of Spanish startup Owo, who designed the jacket. “They’re just avatars,” he said.
The metaverse, a parallel universe where human, augmented and virtual realities mingle, was a hot topic at the annual electronics show in Las Vegas.
Startups presented computers, headsets and other equipment that promise to improve the user experience in virtual worlds.
Owo promotes its jacket as a device capable of making the wearer feel “a shot, the wind, someone grabbing their arm, and even a hug from a loved one” in the video game or the metaverse. The piece will cost less than $450 when it hits the market later this year.
“Our mission is to turn the virtual into reality with a second skin,” said Fuertes.
The metaverse has become a popular topic ever since Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg endorsed it so enthusiastically that the tech company was renamed “Meta”.
Virtual reality has mostly been used for video games, despite its potential for experiences like visiting museums or distant cities without leaving home.
Although companies like Meta and HTC have invested heavily in virtual reality headsets, the equipment is still not light and comfortable enough to be used for long periods.
“I’m the biggest virtual and augmented reality geek, but I don’t think we’re anywhere close to anything exciting happening in the metaverse,” said Paddy Cosgrave, director of Web Summit Europe.
In his opinion, he expects the metaverse to take more than a decade to become a reality.
“Nothing can stop it,” Touchcast founder and head Edo Segal said of the metaverse.
Touchcast introduced a platform for business-to-business collaboration around virtual reality, complete with “metaverse” domain addresses similar to web.com addresses.
But these domains will be registered in a blockchain-like database instead of being on regular servers.
“In 1999, it was hard to believe that people were buying things online. Look where we are today. Humanity is moving in that direction,” Segal said.
Supporters of this industry report that sales of VR gear were boosted by the pandemic as people relied on the Internet to play, work, learn and socialize.
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