- The bHaptics vest and sleeves let you feel VR
- Compatible with Meta Quest 3, PC VR and PSVR 2
- I have tried them and I love them
I love VR and the incredibly immersive experiences it can facilitate through headsets such as the Meta Quest 3. But for all that VR headsets do well, they are limited to just sight and sound – with basic haptic rumbles in the controllers (and in some cases, headset rumble) do little to immerse you via touch. These simple haptics don’t properly feel a VR world, but with bHaptics’ accessories – which I tested at CES – you can unlock a superior experience.
For my demo, I was equipped with three accessories: the TactSuit Pro haptic vest on my chest, a pair of TactSleeve haptic arm guards, and my Meta Quest 3 headset was equipped with the Tact Visor haptic to provide head haptics.
I was then seated in a custom XR sandbox equipped with various weapons and objects that demonstrated the capabilities of the bHaptics technology.
When I picked up a virtual shotgun, I could feel the recoil in my arm and shoulder as the stun gun sent a spinning ripple down my arm and side. I could feel healing drinks in my stomach and gentle waves through my body to indicate that I was back at maximum health.
To help showcase the differences, the demo also included non-haptic versions of each object so I could directly compare them to the haptics – and the haptic versions are a huge leap forward for immersion. I’ll admit they weren’t perfect all the time in terms of feeling like real life, but I’d score them an 8 or 9 out of 10, while the non-haptic controller bumps might be a 2 or 3.
The experience took another step up as I felt the same weapons I fired before they were fired at me. Fortunately, it wasn’t painful, but I could fire electroblasts and lasers at a model that represented me and feel the attacks—with my actions sending realistic signals through the vest, arms, and headset haptics.
It was surprisingly accurate—as I tracked the laser across my back, I could feel differently placed haptic sensors activate as it moved—and gave VR attacks a more tactile feel than they normally would.
Perhaps best of all, these haptic gadgets aren’t some prosumer accessory that only businesses or people with a lot of cash to splash can enjoy. The vest is priced at $499, the sleeve at $199, and the visor at $149 – which isn’t cheap, but not prohibitively expensive either. In addition, they are compatible with Quest, PSVR 2 and PC experiences across games such as Beat Saber, Dungeons of Eternity and Arizona Sunshine 2 to name a few.
The team also explained that community members can create their own custom haptic mapping mods for titles that aren’t currently supported on PC – or to enhance haptics in supported titles, so you don’t always have to wait for a developer to incorporate haptics themselves.
I would love to test them more, but from my short demo I was very impressed with what bHaptics has created. If you’re looking to upgrade your VR headset setup, I’d suggest not just looking at a headset strap or carrying case, but also one of these haptic vests.
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