Meta, formerly Facebook, has introduced a prototype of its tactile glove, allowing people to feel and interact with virtual objects in the digital space. Meta’s Reality Labs team is working on tactile gloves as part of the tech giant’s push towards augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) focusing on Metaverse. Wearables that reproduce virtual world sensations such as textures, pressures, and vibrations. Meta is planning to put the tactile glove along with the VR headset and make it compatible with AR glasses in the future.
Meta on November 16 details Work went into developing tactile gloves as part of a move into the metaverse. Meta says its Reality Labs division has been developing wearables for the past seven years. Meta is still uncertain about the actual time it takes to launch the tactile gauntlet. The company notes that making these gloves is a challenge that requires inventing entirely new areas of scientific research.
The tactile glove can be paired with a VR headset for online multiplayer games. In addition, Meta can also use it in conjunction with AR glasses. “While we are still in the early stages of this research, the goal is to one day connect the gloves to your VR headset for an immersive experience like playing in a concert. or poker games in the metaverse and eventually, they will work with your AR glasses,” Meta said in the blog post.
As seen in the video shared by Meta, the tactile gloves create a sense of the wearer that mimics the weight and feel of real objects while handling it in virtual space. The tactile glove prototype is lined with an inflatable plastic motor called an actuator. These motors are located on the glove that will move in rhythm to give the feeling of the wearer’s hand, including the fingertips. This is done with the help of microfluidicators that control the flow of air moving the actuators. Meta claims they are building the world’s first high-speed microfluidic processor for this.
It is also said to be working on advanced hand tracking technology to allow the tactile glove to precisely locate your hand in a virtual scene, whether you’re in contact with a virtual object. and how your hand interacts with the object. .
While moving a hand, the haptic renderer sends instructions to the actuator on the hand, based on an understanding of things like the position of the hand and the properties of virtual objects (such as texture, weight and stiffness) with which the hand is in contact.
“Today gloves are made exclusively by skilled engineers and technicians who manufacture the subsystems and assemble the gloves largely by hand.” speak Research Process Engineer RL Katherine Healy in a separate blog post. “We use semi-automated processes where possible, but producing these gloves on a large scale will require the invention of new manufacturing processes,” she added.
There are currently no plans for the commercial deployment of tactile gloves. The company said in the blog post, “While our tactile glove research will remain in the lab for now, we are excited about the progress we’ve made and the potential it has.” what it shows for a virtual world that you can touch.”
