Opinion: "Get a grip" - Tactical Haptics could be part of the VR gaming we imagined as kids

Yeah... how awesome would this be? (Photo Credit: Fantastic Fiction)

I remember reading Rodomonte's Revenge by Gary Paulsen as a kid and thinking that a fully immersive game environment would be incredibly fun.

When Nintendo initially announced the Wii, I understood (perhaps reluctantly) that, despite the excitement instilled in me by Paulsen, I wasn't going to be fighting giant alien house flies while wearing a blast shield anytime soon.

Even so, the idea of having motion controls felt like a step in the right direction.

Alas, while the Wii did do some interesting things for the world of motion control, it really never felt like I was there. Without force feedback of any kind, swinging a sword didn't really feel any different from waving a conductor's baton. Likewise, pointing a remote at the screen mostly felt like... pointing a remote at the screen. It sure didn't feel like a weapon.

Ultimately, the game I spent the most time playing on Wii had no motion control features at all.

(Photo Credit: Tactical Haptics)

Enter Tactical Haptics. The company is working to commercialize technology developed at the University of Utah's Haptics and Embedded Mechatronics Laboratory.

Their design uses a Razer Hydra as the base, and adds in feedback in the palm through sliding sections which  can simulate the recoil of a firearm or the resistance of a blade as it strikes something.

In essence, it makes you feel the result of your actions, instead of just seeing it.

I'm not an expert on haptics or even on the technology used in the Razer Hydra, but the end result looks very interesting. I recommend taking the time to check out the video on Tactical Haptics' website. It states that the technology could be compatible with existing console motion detection... but my favourite part?

"This technology... could also make a formidable pairing with a head-mounted display for unprecedented levels of immersion and realism in a virtual reality environment."

With the Oculus Rift (another one of my eagerly-awaited technologies) on the horizon, we could make Paulsen proud sooner than we thought.