This gadget can make you feel heat, cold, or even pain in virtual reality
There's now another element to add to your VR experience.
This startup has created a device that is meant to "drastically heighten" your VR game -- by letting you experience elements like heat, cold -- and even pain.
The ThermoReal, created by TEGway -- a spin-off of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology -- is a thermo-electric device that can go from 4 to 40°C (39.2 to 104°F), according to a report by Engadget.
The device can even produce heat and cold on different areas at the same time, which, apparently, replicates what a pinch feels like.
Here's how the device would work in real life:
So if you're wandering through a flame in a VR game, you'll feel heat build up in your hand.
Or if you jump into a freezing cold lake, that sensation of coldness will start to spread across your palms accordingly.
But how exactly does this work? The company uses flexible thermoelectric devices, that are able to convert body temperature into electrical energy. Electric currents can also be run through the device, which can either cool it down or heat it up.
Tegway also adds that it has filed numerous patent applications in these areas.
It might be a while before this is actually adopted by VR manufacturers, but we're looking to experience heat, cold -- though maybe not pain -- in our future games.
Topics Gaming Virtual Reality
Yvette is a Viral Content Reporter at Mashable Asia. She was previously reporting for BBC's Singapore bureau and Channel NewsAsia.
