Can you touch things in a VR world?

Earlier this year, "Ultrahaptics" raised 23 million USD for an interface that uses ultrasound to make the VR world a much more tangible concept. Pun intended. Basically, the user feels feedback from their hand motions, such as when seeing a switch through their VR glasses and turning their hand to flip it on.

Ultrahaptics in action

Sure, sure, the company says they are interested in implementing the technology to car dashboards. But you know what's much, much cooler? When it comes to entertainment, we have had the visual and auditorial experiences in various forms since theatre play became a thing ages ago. We are also getting a scent-experience into VR, like discussed in my previous blog post.

But wait, actually touching things in a virtual world? Eerie or incredible? I vote for: incredible. The degree of immersion that comes from touching virtual reality objects could be on par with the experience that most people have with current VR technology. When you first put on VR glasses and turn your head from side to side, the camera follows. But when you pick up any object, or perhaps even run into something, the line between reality and virtual reality becomes awfully apparent.

But what if objects gave feedback when you touched them, had a weight, even consistency to them?
Each sense present in a virtual reality world complements every other sense that is present. It creates constructive interference. But arguably, what the VR audience is least familiar with is the sense of touch.

Put on your VR glasses, high-end headphones and even an attachment that sprays various scents to immerse your experience. But in the end, personally I think that being able to touch something in a VR world would be a much more surprising, exhilarating experience. Time will tell how ultrahaptics will evolve. I'm stopping smoking and drinking green tea to live long enough to test out advanced ultrahaptics. And so should you!