Disney created a responsive jacket for immersive VR experiences

There is still a long way to go before virtual reality experiences actually gain weight in the real world just like in movies like "Player Number 1", but Disney has just presented something that can take us one step further into this enhanced scenario. It's the Force Jacket, a piece created in partnership between Disney Reasear, MIT Media Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University.

The idea is simple: to offer more realistic and immersive experiences for those using a virtual reality device. This is because the jacket is capable of inflating and emptying some airbags scattered throughout and thus applying real-life physical pressures seen in the digital environment.

The initial idea is to develop the core of the technology, its creators point out, creating enough material to establish a "basic psychophysical assessment" and also "to design an initial set of effect tests."

Such effects provided by the Force Jacket include feeling the impact of rain or snow falling on a character in the virtual world, an insect crawling across the surface of his arm, or something gooey sliding down his back, for example. It is not difficult to imagine how much the evolution of this can contribute to making virtual experiences much more realistic.

Interestingly, such physical effects can be created with the aid of editing software designed to work in conjunction with the jacket. It is through him that scientists have customized the effect of three testing initiatives: a snowball throwing game, a punching game, and a hand-tapping game.

Although interesting, the study (available here in its entirety - PDF) is in its infancy and should have a long way to go before it becomes consumer products. Even so, your contribution to the future of virtual reality can be quite significant, so let's keep an eye out.

Disney has created a responsive jacket for immersive VR experiences via TecMundo