Motion Capture Suits, Augmented Hearing, Social VR, and More! Highlights from the AWE Expo
Last Friday marked the final day of the 2018 Augmented World Expo, where over 250 exhibitors from all around the world came together to showcase the latest and greatest in the XR universe. Walking through the expo felt like going through Tony Stark’s garage: exhibitors displayed mil-spec enterprise headsets designed to help industrial workers. Companies also showed innovative developer tools, fresh takes on haptic devices, and compelling experiences. Here is a shortlist of some really cool exhibits that I ran into while traversing the expo floor:
1. HoloSuit by KaayaTech
Ever dream of living out your Pacific Rim fantasy and cancelling the apocalypse? This suit might be a step forward in that direction. Created by the team at KaayaTech, the HoloSuit is a full-body motion capture suit with haptic capabilities.
According to their latest press release: “with options for 26 or 36 embedded sensors and nine haptic feedback devices dispersed across both arms, legs and all ten fingers…the HoloSuit captures the user’s entire body’s movement data and uses haptic feedback to send information back to the user.”
2. Where Thoughts Go by Lucas Rizzotto
Lucas Rizzotto’s social virtual reality experience added the Auggie Awards’s Best-in-Show VR to its already impressive list of accolades. In the experience, players share emotional moments by reading collections of previous players’ responses to thought-provoking questions in the form of cute Miyazaki-like spirit creatures. In turn, they can leave their own responses behind for players who will come after them. All of the submissions are anonymous.
The experience was emotional and refreshing, and at my VR station, people left personal, honest and expressive responses. For my part, when asked what my dream life would have been, I left my own little creature behind saying “Jedi Knight” without hesitation.
3. Mudra by Wearable Devices
Another great gesture recognition device on the expo floor, the Mudra band by Wearable Devices turns the user’s entire hand into an input for computer applications. Unlike devices that rely on visuals to determine hand movements like the HoloLens, the band detects nervous system activity in order to recognize a number of fine movements including pinches, swipes, and scrolls. All users have to do is strap the device onto their wrist and calibrate it using the Mudra app.
4. IQBuds by Nuheara
As a subway commuter and gym rat, I love a good pair of wireless earbuds. Nuheara’s IQ buds might give me an excuse to never have a reason to take them off. Building on traditional noise-cancelling wireless earbuds, the IQBuds introduce a new layer of “augmented hearing” technology. This enables users to customize the level of ambient noise and output from the headphones to suit their needs. Users can shut out environmental noise entirely, or let in background noise while listening to music or to increase situational awareness. Users can even tune the buds to accentuate a conversation in a crowded environment like a pub (or even a tech convention!)
5. Haptic Sensor Array by ultrahaptics
The team at Ultrahaptics brought their own exciting exhibit at the expo. Using an array of miniature ultrasonic sensors, their device manipulates sound waves to create haptic feedback in mid-air. I had the chance to try it out by playing a game of Critical Mass with another conference-goer in VR. To play the game, I held my hand over the array and manipulated a virtual button and trackpad. It was an interesting experience: when I held my hand over the buttons, the haptic response felt like a cross between a puff of air and a slight tingling.
These exhibits stood out to me in particular because they highlight the ways in which XR can engage more of our senses as well as our emotions. Echoing many of the speakers at the conference, I believe that in order to continue to enhance our ability to use XR to interact with the world around us we need to find ways to increase our ability to have an embodied experience. These exhibits highlight three ways in which we can do this:
— Create technology that, as Charlie Fink outlined in his talk at the conference, “makes what we are already doing, better.” One way XR can accomplish this is by enhancing all of our senses, sight and beyond.
— Develop methods that can allow us to interact and manipulate technology using the human body in more intuitive ways.
— Create experiences with this technology that allows us to connect with each other in a deeper, more meaningful way.
Overall, the expo was a fantastic experience. Kudos to all the exhibitors, and kudos to these companies!
