Development kit lets you create 3D haptic sensations in mid-air

By Warren Miller, contributing writer

Virtual reality is rapidly becoming the next frontier in immersive entertainment technology. Put on a headset and you can be transported into a dystopian hellscape overrun by robots or the surface of another planet colonized by aliens. There are many 3D VR interfaces currently available to the consumer that allows you to see and hear these possible surroundings — the next step is being able to touch them as well. That’s where STRATOS Explore comes in.

STRATOS Explore is the first development kit designed for Ultrahaptics’ STRATOS platform. It’s intended to give developers the opportunity to create systems that involve mimicking the sensation of touching objects in virtual settings. By emitting ultrasound waves and manipulating them to apply subtle pressure on a user’s skin, the STRATOS Explore can make the user feel like they’re touching three-dimensional objects. This kind of interactive sensation is called haptic feedback; hence, the company’s name.

Image source: ultrahaptics.com.

The possible functionality of the tech isn’t just limited to VR simulations or gaming, however. Ultrahaptics has already licensed its mid-air haptics system to automotive companies like BOSCH and Harman to be incorporated into user interfaces for remotely controlling cars’ functions such as the radio and air conditioner. They’ve also worked with other international conglomerates like Dell, Nike, Meta, and Pagani.

“The STRATOS Explore development kit is the best solution for customers who want to explore how mid-air haptics can enhance their products,” said David Hearne, VP of Sales at Ultrahaptics. “We can now offer an off-the-shelf development kit based on our most advanced platform.”

The use of ultrasonic waves to produce touch sensations is an interesting approach. Perhaps this technique could also be used to provide precise location, velocity, and acceleration measurements of the location of the user’s fingers, hands, arms, and legs. This could open up a wide range of techniques for controlling things like 3D printing, micromanipulators used in surgery, and complex robots used in environs that are unsafe for human beings. The ability to provide instant feedback via touch closes the control loop that has made these processes only available to very well-trained experts. Using the feedback loop involved in movement and touch, complex processes could be much more easily mastered.

The STRATOS Explore seems to be the next step in creating VR environments with which users can interact with all five of their senses. It’s not hard to imagine a future like the one depicted in the novel (and movie of the same name) “Ready Player One,” in which people all over the world interact in the same communal VR world. A digital universe that you can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell doesn’t seem like the stuff of science fiction anymore. It’s enough to make you wonder if we’ll even be able to tell where the virtual ends and reality begins.