Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

 

Tesla Suit Gives Haptic Hugs

The Tesla Suit may provide all of us with the remotely given hugs we've been longing for. No relation with Tesla Motors, by the way.


(The Tesla Suit)

On October 14, Sarah Cox, a presenter for Watch TV, received the world’s first hug using virtual reality and tactile feedback, claimed Tesla Studios.

She was wearing a prototype model of the Tesla Suit, which creators describe as, a “smart textile” that works as a motion sensor and sensory applicator. This means that the suit can record its wearer’s temperature and movements in three-dimensional space, and deliver sensations to different parts of the body.

The virtual hug was delivered with three devices working in tandem: The Tesla Suit, an Xbox Kinect motion sensor, and an Oculus Rift headset. As the hugger raised his arms and closed them around empty space, his movements were detected by sensors and sent to Cox’s Tesla Suit. The suit picked up the sensation of being hugged and applied it to her body. She also saw the hugging man in front of her through her Oculus headset, although he was actually standing on the other side of the room.

The Tesla Studios website gives the following information:

Tesla Suit is a tactile suit for virtual reality, based on electro muscle stimulation technology, that performs a dual role as a motion capture system and tactile smart textile, incorporating thousands of nodes to stimulate sensations in the skin through tiny electric pulses.

It is completely wireless and compatible with existing virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus, Google Glass and META Space Glasses, as well as game consoles (PSP, Xbox), PCs and smartphones.

The potential applications for this technology encompass gaming, remote tactile communication, sport, medicine as well as numerous other virtual reality uses.

Tesla Suit is currently in development. It will be launched on Kickstarter within the next few months.

This seems very similar in function to the tactile net used by Frederik Pohl's Joymaker, a kind of super pda/phone that he describes in detail in his 1965 novel The Age of the Pussyfoot. The tactile net is used to present the user with a felt "virtual kiss" from a caller who left a message.

"Man Forrester, the personal callers are as follows:

...Adne Bensen: female, Universalist, Arcadian-Trimmer, twenty-three declared, five feet seven inches, experiencer-homeswoman, no business stated. Her kiss follows."

Forrester did not know what to expect but was pleasantly ready for anything.

What he got was indeed a kiss. It was disconcerting. No kissing lips were visible. There was a hint of perfumed breath, then a pressure on the lips - warm and soft, moist and sweet.

Via thefutureofsex and Tesla Studios

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/10/2015)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )

Related News Stories - (" Communication ")

Will Whales Be Our First Contact?
'He had piloted the Adastra to its first contact with the civilization of another solar system.' - Murray Leinster, 1935.

NYC/Dublin Portal Fails To Meet 'Guardian Of Forever' Standards
I am the Guardian of Forever.

Holobox? Who Doesn't Want A Home Hologram?
'...there appeared standing upon the disk, the image of a man...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1928.

EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer
'McKie held a chalf-memory stick over the dusted surface.' - Frank Herbert, 1964.

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

Mechazilla Arms Catch A Falling Starship, But Check Out SF Landing-ARMS
'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'

A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'

Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'

Hybrid Wind Solar Devices
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'

Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated?
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'

Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way
'The automatic massager began to fumble gently...'

Solar-Powered Space Trains On The Moon
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'

Drone Deliveries Instead Of Waiters In Restaurants?
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'

Optimus Robot Can Charge Itself
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'

Skip Movewear Arc'teryx AI Pants
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'

'Robovan' Name Already Taken - Elon, Try These
There are alternative names that are probably in the public domain by now.

How Old Are Tesla Designs?
You be the judge.

Is Your Autonomous Tractor Safe?
'The field-minder finished turning the top-soil of a two-thousand-acre field.'

Smart TVs Are Listening!
'You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard...'

Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You
''OVERRIDE,' the City Fathers said suddenly, without being asked anything at all.'

Oh Great (Part 2), Fence-Climbing Robots
Please, no stingers.

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.