By Ethan S., Age 15
The movie Ready Player One was about fully immersive VR (virtual reality). Imagine if you could feel and touch everything you see in a VR headset and interact with it all too. That might seem like a not-so-distant future, however, that reality is closer than you might think.
In Ready Player One, there is a haptic full-body suit that allows you to feel everything around your entire body. The real life version? The Teslasuit. The Teslasuit is a full-body suit that uses electric shocks to stimulate your muscles and nerves. The suit can go as far as controlling your muscles via software. YouTuber Nathie was able to try out the suit and made a video on his experience. He goes as far as to say “It’s so strange that you can feel every interaction you are having.”
While it claims to be full-body, the Teslasuit does not cover the hands. The company HaptX has stepped in and created haptic gloves- the most impressive thing I’ve seen on the market. YouTuber SmarterEveryDay made a video (https://youtu.be/OK2y4Z5IkZ0) where he tried out the gloves. In one part, he sticks his hand under a mini cloud pouring a small stream of rain and exclaims “I’m not a VR believer but you could actually feel each individual raindrop.”
These products are not yet available to the public. Once they go on the market, however, and once virtual reality becomes mainstream, you will be fully “in” the game. Full immersion isn’t just close- it’s here.