Over the past ten years, games designers have struggled to create greater realism in their virtual worlds. Now that the visual aspect of games is approaching photo-realism, designers are looking to push back other boundaries through entirely new technologies.
I have already talked about computer mind-control systems, but another emerging area of innovation is sensory reality.
One system, designed by Hirouki Kajimoto and Kanako Matsuo, involves gamers wearing specially designed arm, leg or chest pads. The pads can create a wide variety of sensations through tiny brushes embedded within them – from insects crawling over your arms to stab wounds. And this technology is not years away – it works now and will be commercial very soon.
With this technology, opponents in virtual worlds may soon be able to “hurt” you, and it is bound to drastically change how we play games.
It certainly brings the illusive ideal of immersive virtual reality one step closer.
How long can it be before the big games publishers, like EA and Activision, lock on to these technologies as their next selling-point?
Tags: controller, games, gaming, sensory control, sensory reality, Technology, virtual reality
