Gaming is going to get as real as it can be. Students at Pennsylvania University have developed a gaming vest that
lets you feel every shot and every force that you play against in a computer game. Most of the games these days involve first man shooter and fights and the gaming vest will make it more real with a player actually feeling the pain giving gaming a new look. The vest was demonstrated at the IEEE Haptics Symposium, in Waltham, Mass.
The vest was initially designed for the army to allow soldiers to feel what its like to take a bullet or be stabbed which let them to have more situational awareness and a an increased sense of reaction. Its works by powering up fact acting solenoid actuators for fast responses and vibrating eccentric-mass motors to create the ripple effect when a buttet hits the vest.
The motors are used in a cluster around the vest which will let you experience a slashing effect produced by a knife if it were to occur during the game play. Controlled by custom electronics and linked to the game with an ability to provide the gamer with directional awareness of where the shot was fired from rather than just vibrating the whole vest, this technology is extremely promising, especially for the gaming industry.
With newer games like Call of Duty and others coming out, leading to huge lines and bump in sales for the consoles, a vest is a great idea. 3D tv’s already have the gaming community talking. “I can now dodge a bullet and watch it go by me on a 3D tv, but with the vest I can take it and get to feel it”, said RJ a network engineer and a gaming enthusiast. “The vest also opens the door for 360 degree gaming, with an ability to feel a shot from behind my back, instead of relying on sound as done before!”, he explained.
Interestingly the vest is available and has been on sale at $140. We do not yet know how good this gaming vest is which can be bought here.