You Can Grab Virtual Objects With This New VR Glove

It is quite easy to fool human brains. It does not take advantage of our mind’s weaknesses, either using optical illusions or even more advanced trickery. But that’s what helps creates virtual reality systems with which we can travel to a digital world. With this new VR glove, the whole experience might get even better.

A team of engineers from South Korea has come up with a new device which is flexible and lightweight glove capable of effectively mimicking the sensations of digital object manipulation.

In a research which was published in the Nature journal, the authors described the glove as being able to not only turn your hand into some kind of VR controller but also providing tactile feedback. This feedback will trick your brain into believing you are holding whatever is shown by the VR headset.

Although the glove is not yet ready for consumers, it could be a major step toward making VR truly immersive.

The glove, instead of having a cool name like “RobotGlove”, is called a “pneumatic actuator and flexible piezoelectric sensor” by researchers. The device transmits electrical signals so that when someone “touches” something in virtual reality, the soft material will contract.

The authors decided to test their VR glove on a computerized chess board’s virtual night, which turned out to be a success. The moment the user’s real hands grabbed the digital object, the actuators of the glove mimicked the object’s physical dimensions. As a result, the user could feel the shape of the knight as well as being able to pick up and hold it.

The device is a great example of how scientists are moving closer toward a truly immersive VR. The authors of the study said:

That would include learning software, virtual scientific informative or even video games.