If VR has to be introduced mainstream, then it needs to leave behind the bulky accessories while still allowing people interact with the virtual world. It is a concept that the researchers at the Reality Labs of Facebook are developing with a prototype known as Tasbi. Here the device is chunky and is a wrist-worn haptic bangle that makes use of a combination of squeezes and vibrations that allows the users to feel what they are doing.
The idea here is that the users wear one Tasbi Unit on every wrist while allowing to get a sensation when they pick up objects, push buttons or pick up objects. Even though the fingers are not touching anything, Tasbi is smart enough to make you think that they actually are touching. But here Tasbi does not do hand /Finger/ or skeleton tracking and so would have to be combined with a computer vision sensor.
It has to be also seen if Tasbi would work for everyone and Facebook promises to publish the research paper on the device in near future. It is surely promising to know that the companies are looking forward at ways to bridge one of the biggest divides between the users and what they see on the screen. In near future it is also likely that they will be using gloves that are similar to those made by Beop, to feel things that are not there.
Photo Credits: Engadget
