Will Immersive Training Push Haptics to Forefront of Enterprise XR?

We are now firmly in a golden age for immersive technologies and there is increasing evidence that commercial applications – rather than gaming and entertainment – will focus on XR rather than VR. The need to marry virtual content with real world elements has become big business, but it seems that just seeing content is not sufficient; increasingly we want to interact with it and that involves haptic feedback.

The dramatic shift to XR from plain old VR is evident in the uptake of XR devices, which allow users to do so much more in terms of interaction, rather than just displaying virtual content, in addition because XR has the added capabilities of haptic accessories such as touch-sensitive gloves which have become big news.

The training and industrial world has gone mad with the potential for XR devices to help deliver what would otherwise be seen as ‘difficult’ training. Almost anything from assembly and control to nuclear systems engineering and brain surgery are enhanced by doing, but it is not always possible to train these tasks in the real world. One of the major elements of training is what should the operator do in a failure situation, and neither the nuclear systems nor the brain surgery responds well to failure; someone usually dies! XR systems allow for the nuclear engineer to react to a high-pressure water leakage, or the surgeon to deal with a massive brain bleed without the potential disaster.

But sight alone isn’t good enough for such high-pressure situations, and they require a high degree of feedback to add imperative to the situation. Feedback is everything in these cases.

Do It with Feeling

Through the use of realistic haptics, users are able to comprehend the tactile input of a virtual object or a piece of machinery in the real world without putting themselves at risk of damage or of losing their capital.

However, to make the systems realistic, there needs to be a step change in the precision and feedback from haptics devices, particularly if trying to virtually replicate the kinds of minute pressures that a surgeon must bring to bear during complex surgery. That is where Italian tech company Weart comes in. The company has developed a new system called TouchDIVER, which promises to be ground-breaking in terms of haptics.

Through the simulation of elements such as force, textures, and thermals in relation to an immersive learning object, TouchDIVER has the potential to bring about a significant increase in the value of XR training modules. Consequently, this provides learners with improved situational awareness, dexterity, and coordination while they are participating in simulation exercises.  

The Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of WEART, Guido Gioioso, stated that haptic technology can be of assistance in achieving this objective by mimicking interactive processes in a manner that is realistic enough to provide workers with the skills necessary to take on tough job positions and sectors. He said;

“TouchDIVER gives users the possibility to interact in XR as they are used to in real life, enhancing muscular memory activation. Moreover, haptic feedback is proven to create more detailed and durable memory, if compared to pure audiovisual feedback.”

Such is the excitement in this expanding field, that Weart have recently established a partnership with German aerospace company PACE Aerospace Engineering & Information Technology GmbH.  

The haptic gloves developed by Weart operate via their bespoke WEAVR software, and that has enabled PACE to integrate the units into their everyday operations. The flexibility of the system has meant that PACE engineers have been able to design bespoke tools for specialist procedures and make full use of the capabilities of TouchDIVER. This means that PACE are not only able to use the currently released App features, but can develop their own too. That is a game-changer in haptics.

Guido Gioioso went on to say “the integration of our haptic technology into XR training software like WEAVR allows trainees to experience realistic tactile sensations in an intuitive learning platform. WEAVR ensures a rapid development process for training procedures. Companies without dedicated VR content developers can expand their internal procedures over time and integrate them into existing training simulation projects. This scalability reduces development costs and time, and can be seamlessly integrated into the existing workflow. This perfectly aligns with our goal to make the adoption of haptic technology broader and easier.”

WEART are now fully committed to refining the TouchDIVER hardware and the WEAVR App package to ensure that it becomes increasingly human-like in operation. With the pre-production models coming in at a shade under $4,000, they are not likely to be in the hands of non-professional users for some time, but the technology is now proven and will only reduce in price.

We at Unity Developers are very excited about this latest trend in wearables, so keep checking back here to catch the latest in haptic technology.