- Now people can kiss in Metaverse thanks to the haptic feedback from a custom VR headset
- The people in the act can feel a life-like sensation on their lips, teeth, and tongue
If the physical distance is taking a toll on your relationship, your worries may end soon. Metaverse has achieved a potential solution that keeps people closer to virtual space.
A group of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University’s Future Interface Group in Pennslyvania, USA has concocted a way users can feel and kiss each other. The participants can kiss, and also feel the sensation on their lips, teeth, and tongue making it a life-like affectionate affair.
All this is possible with haptic technology. The transducers installed at the belly of a VR headset (Oculus Quest 2) direct the ultrasound to areas of the mouth of the participants. The researchers published their experiment in Future Interfaces Group. To prove that it works, they gave an instance of a game. When playing a horror game on VR, it simulates the feeling of a spider brushing around the mouth. Likewise, it also simulates motions such as those we get when we brush our teeth, smoke, feel the rain, and kiss. Also read: The Rise And The Threats of Deepfake Videos
In their paper, the researchers explained, “Proximity of the mouth to the headset offers a significant opportunity to enable on- and in-mouth haptic effects, without needing to run wires or wear an extra accessory. We developed a thin, compact, beamforming array of ultrasonic transducers, which can render haptic effects onto the mouth.”
“Importantly, all components are integrated into the headset, meaning the user does not need to wear an additional accessory or place any external infrastructure in their room,” their paper read.
As the internet slowly moves into the metaverse, our virtual space will become more real and lifelike. But it remains to be seen how close to reality the simulated feeling could be when it comes to end-users.
How do you feel about a kiss in Metaverse or the general idea of being in a virtual world with closed ones? Can it become a viable mode to bridge the physical distance? Do share in the comments below.
