When asked what they want right now, most gamers will respond with a GPU, but when asked “besides that,” most will say they always want more immersion. After all, it’s why we have ultra-wide monitors, 3D audio, and high-fidelity visuals. However, a new haptic vest from the Spanish company OWO promises to provide a level of immersion we never realized we wanted.
OWO is a Spanish firm that offers this haptic clothing that may provide you with touch sensations through electrical stimulation. Because the shirt must be in direct contact with the body for the electricity to immediately stimulate the skin and muscles, it cannot be worn beneath it. It is intended to imitate the sensations typical of a first-person shooter game, such as being hit by a missile, stabbed by a knife, being the victim of an explosion, and so on. The goal is to produce more realistic action games.
The OWO haptic shirt is based on microsensing technology, which is the smallest unit that can be calibrated. Each sensation is composed of one or more micro sensations. A gunshot, for example, is made up of three micro sensations: an entry wound, an exit wound, and bleeding.
The OWO haptic shirt can generate an unlimited number of experiences through its algorithm. According to the company, all they have to do is imagine a sensation and change the wave’s properties. The shirt has an app that saves the users’ stats so that calibration is automatically customized each time they play. At any time, the intensity can be changed.
“Unlike other haptics that use vibration to reproduce one sensation, OWO is the only company that can reproduce an infinite number of realistic physical sensations.” “And since each body is different, you can calibrate the sensations to make your experience unique,” said the invention’s CES page.
