Microsoft is exploring realistic VR

haptics with this wrist-mounted

gadget
Virtual Reality (VR) headsets like Oculus Quest 2 and Valve Index are on top of
their game, but the touch controllers that come with those devices still feel a little
disconnected. A new design from Microsoft’s research division could make the
haptics of VR just as realistic as its visuals with a design that puts a motorised
handle on your wrist.

At the heart of the new Haptic Pivot controller is a motorised hinge and handle
system that sits on your wrist, as Endgadget reports. The handle includes a
suite of capacitive touch sensors that allow it to detect when you touch and
release an object in VR.

What’s great about this new design is that it can move as fast as you need it to
keep up with your movements. This means that the controller will be in sync with
whatever is going on on-screen.

Importantly, two Pivot controllers can work together to “simulate what it’s like to
hold an object with two hands”.

While that can look a little funny in action but the design of the Haptic Pivot
allows the “recreation of the sensation you feel when you first make contact with
an object”. That is something the current haptic controllers, including ones glove
designs, have struggled with replicating realistically.

Also Read: Google's Daydream is over, support for the VR platform

officially ends with Android 11

Another handle of this particular design is that the Pivot handles retract when you
are not using them. Also, Microsoft says that the Haptic Pivot can be used with a
keyboard and mouse and thus, it’s easy to imagine how that can allow anyone to
use it with another VR controller. This is also vital for game developers.

“Introducing the wrist form factor, or design, into our offerings presented an
opportunity to provide a wider range of actions without interfering with the
physical environment around the player,” the team that worked on the design
said.

Just to put it out there, the Haptic Pivot is a research project, and we may never
see Microsoft actually commercialise the design. But it could inspire other
companies to approach the problem of VR haptics in similar ways.

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