In gaming, the virtual pain is now real.
Let’s talk about pain. Masochists excepted, most of us aren’t huge fans of the sensation, but it does have its uses as an early warning system – in the real world, that is.
So we guess it was only a matter of time before pain wormed its way into the virtual world, or the “metaverse” as our technology overlords would have us call it.
And we are not talking about the pain caused by the physical damage folks inflict upon themselves via the interfacing of VR headsets and real world solid objects.
Instead, we now have a Japanese startup, called H2L Technologies, which has developed an electronic wristband that enables to the wearer to feel actual pain when traversing the metaverse.
According to a report in the Financial Times, the wristband is designed to administer electric shocks to users which mimic sensations such as catching a ball or having a bird peck your skin.
Or picking up a live cupcake.
While this may sound a touch creepy and kind of sadistic, according to the company’s CEO, Emi Tamaki, it’s all about making the metaverse more real by increasing “feeling of presence and immersion” and conveying “weight and resistance feelings to users and avatars” in the virtual world.
Tamaki told the FT that the idea of a haptic wristband came to her after she suffered a near-death experience in her teens due to a congenital heart disease, which has restricted her ability to interact normally due to a lack of muscle mass.
The ultimate goal was to use the technology to “release humans from any sort of constraints in terms of space, body and time”, she said.
Which, if you look at it that way, makes the technology seem slightly more noble than nuts. But only slightly.
If you see something that might ease the pain, flush it down the intertubes to felicity@medicalrepublic.com.au
