VR is great and all that but it's complete lack of feeling means that no matter how 'real' 360-degree videogaming feels, you're not utilizing one of the most important senses: touch.
Students from London's Royal College of Art want to change that, with Skinterface. It might sound like a nickname you would call someone because of their complete lack of money but the technology behind this currently prototype suit is impressive.
The Skinterface team is promising you will "experience full immersion" in VR and it's all thanks to a skinsuit that's packed with actuators - a component that causes movement when an electric current flows through it.
These actuators carry vibrating sound waves across the suit, using magnets, giving the user the sensation that they are touching something that's, well, 'real'.
From gaming to medical research
Each actuator on the suit is color coded too, so a 3D camera can pick out movement and the nodes can turn on and off according to this movement.
According to the Skinterface team, who have been showcasing the suit over the last few months at various events, gaming was the first thing that came to mind when the suit was being developed, but they reckon there might be a case for it being used in medical research too.
If the teledildonics industry get hold of it, we think it the uses may also become a little more x-rated.
Via Digital Trends
