Forbes has a report on an interesting new technology that was recently shown at the 2005 SIGGRAPH computer graphics conference.Attendees witnessed a woman wearing a funny pair of headphones who strained to keep balanced while researchers steered her with a remote control.
The headphones send a light electrical current to an area behind the ears that controls movement and balance; a weak current is enough to throw you off balance while a stronger one can alter your movement.
One of the commercial exploitations of the technology might be in gaming, and the researchers demonstrated this with a racing game created for the event:
The most persuasive commercial applications of Maeda's GVS device will most likely be in gaming; researchers put together a crude virtual racing game to demonstrate how GVS heightened the perception of centrifugal force as users watch the car wind its way around the track on a video screen. Manabu Sakurai, NTT's marketing manager, says the company is currently investigating whether or not gamers would be interested in the device. Flight simulators are another area of interest.
"Many people talk about that," Sakurai explained. "Because GVS causes you to feel the same kinds of motion as a large-scale flight simulator, it could be a much simpler and more cost-effective way to train people."
Remote-Controlled Humans
About SIGGRAPH
emerging technologies: Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation as a Novel Sensation Interface
Discussion >>
