06 November,2016 10:07 AM IST | | Agencies
Disney Research has developed a 360-degree virtual reality application using a unique chair to provide full body sensations that enables users to add customisable “feel effects” such as falling rain or a beating heart
Washington: Disney Research has developed a 360-degree virtual reality application using a unique chair to provide full body sensations that enables users to add customisable "feel effects" such as falling rain or a beating heart.
"Our team is working to make VR haptic sensations just as rich as the 360-degree visual media now available," Ali Israr, senior research engineer at Disney Research Pittsburgh. The haptic playback and authoring plug-in developed by the researchers connects a VR game engine to a custom haptic device. It allows users to create, personalise and associate haptic feedback to the events triggered in the VR game engine.
The haptic definition app, called VR360HD, was developed and tested using a consumer headset and Disney Research's haptic chair.
The grid produces localised moving sensations in the back, while the subwoofers shake two different regions of the body and can create a sensation of motion. These effects are identified as rain, pulsing or rumbling, and can be adjusted so that people can distinguish between a light or heavy downpour.
