Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and the Audience Network ad network, is developing its own virtual and augmented reality gloves.
For seven years, the Meta Reality Labs team has been creating prototypes of the glove that provide a tactile connection for the user when interacting with objects in the virtual world. The existing working version of the accessory is a glove with one and a half dozen pneumatic plastic pads located along the user’s palm, underside and fingertips. The glove also plays the role of a virtual reality controller – white markers located on it allow cameras to track finger movements in space, and internal sensors record the user’s finger flexion and make it possible to “work” in VR.
The glove is claimed to be capable of simulating pressure and feedback from objects – when combined with visual and audible cues, this creates the illusion of physical touch. It is expected that in the future, due to an increase in the density of actuators on the surface of the glove, it will be possible to provide a more delicate operation of the system, allowing a person to feel not only the dimensions of a virtual object, but also tactilely feel the difference in textures.
The timing of the appearance of serial virtual reality gloves is not reported. We will remind, earlier Meta confirmed that it is developing its own headsets of virtual and augmented reality.
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