Groundbreaking haptic devices were released such as the HaptX G1. The HaptX suit manages to make you forget about the cables, actuators and sensors, leaving you with the impression you’re interacting with the objects. Granularity is great, as you can feel the difference between textures, and when you grab objects, the sensation is consistent with the feeling of a physical object, even if it’s still possible to push your fingers inside the objects for instance. Even if we are yet far from a Ready Player One immersion, some of them seem to announce a bright future in this domain, allowing soon VR and AR users to get close-to-real-life interactions with virtual objects. This is already an impressive device with the combo of the bigger motors taking care of finger resistance and the sensations in the palm of the hand that are simulated by a myriad of micro-actuators. Also, the mere amount and diversity of solutions shows the domain is fizzing with energy.
Another impressive haptic device is the Senseglove. Given that our ambassador has tried both the new and the older version, two elements were noticeably corrected: Firstly, the feedback level is more detailed, where the old version was too on/off, consistency of feeling is better, you get less this feeling that steel strings are restricting your fingers’ freedom. Secondly, there is now a palm insert that completes the feeling and allows for instance to push or feel a surface, improving the grab sensation. The demo was run on a Vive XR elite. For the cost of approx. 3.5 euros a set, this could prove a good solution to follow.
Moving to the metaverse platform, it was shocking to discover the sheer size of Caliverse by Lotte’s booth, which resembles the powerful display by ViktoriaVR in Paris 2 years ago. Obviously well-funded, this booth was displaying a mix of use cases. For example, using current technological advances, it’s becoming increasingly easy to create your digital twin based on iPhone pictures for instance. Your new avatar is then ready to explore a digital land (i.e. Metaverse) filled with shops where you can actually buy. Gamification can get you bonuses and rewards.
Additionally, in the field of avatar creation, this being an essential component of our future Second Worlds), it was positively surprising to discover Copresence on the Swiss booth. They seem to master the creation of digital twins and produce avatars that are designed for actual use in Unity or Unreal Engine productions, for instance.
Also, on the swiss booth, Patch XR’s universe could be compelling to people attracted to the world of music. You can gather with your friends, play together, use virtual mixing tables and other devices to record whatever your creativity allows.
On the VR headsets, there wasn’t much that was unfamiliar (although the HTC Vive XR Elite remains positively surprising), except one: the Pimax Crystal headset, and an appointment was arranged at CES to finally try it. Although looking like a hammerhead shark – which can be seen as a pro or a con – the great field of view and ultra-crisp resolution are very impressive.
Attention was also drawn to AI and #generativeai as a collection of efficiency boosting tools that are adapted to many fields. These fields encompass a diversity of themes such as healthcare, understanding newborns, image upscaling, employee engagement, managing the restaurants and domestic animal care.
Thanks to CES 2024 everything felt possible during that week, the technological innovation shown in Las Vegas seemed to give their users superpowers.
BY Egli HAXHIRAJ, Anamaria MESHKURTI, Jonida GJUZI, Noor ALI and Franck MILET
© All Rights Reserved Moneys Media Ltd Geneva, Switzerland.
