- [Narrator] Everyone is talking
about the Metaverse.
Back in October 2021,
Facebook released a bold announcement.
It was finally time for new branding.
Gone was Facebook,
the company is now called Meta.
The move was an attempt to shift focus
from social media to a new frontier.
The Metaverse.
Supposedly the future of the internet.
To hear tech entrepreneurs,
like Mark Zuckerberg,
talk about the Metaverse,
you'd imagine the greatest thing since dial-up.
But for most people,
there's confusion about
what the Metaverse even is.
After all, it's still only
the infancy of the technology.
It's like talking about
the internet in the 1970s.
Everyone's heard of the Metaverse,
but no one's agreed what it will be.
Maybe the Metaverse
will replace the internet.
Maybe we're all going
to move there someday.
Maybe it's an entirely digital world
for you to explore,
hang out, work, purchase, meet people, and more.
Maybe it's everything.
Defining the Metaverse has been a little
intangible until now.
Here's the thing.
Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook,
is finally starting to flesh out
the Metaverse concept.
They've given a sneak preview
of an exciting new development.
Haptic gloves, which provide sensory feedback
as you move around the virtual world.
In this video,
we'll dive into the Metaverse's amazing potential
and explore how the new VR Metaverse gloves
are changing how we think
about the concept forever.
Oh, and we'll also take a quick look
at how haptic gloves will blend
with the Metaverse's Omnidirectional Treadmill
for the most cutting-edge
immersive experience possible.
But there's just one thing
to clear up first.
What even is the Metaverse?
Beyond the marketing hype,
the Metaverse is a vision
for virtual reality.
Rather than current virtual worlds,
which disappear when you stop playing,
the Metaverse is always there.
It's an augmented digital reality
that can be accessed anywhere
and by anyone.
It will even have a digital economy.
You'll buy avatars,
virtual identities,
and items to use in your virtual spaces.
That's the idea anyway.
If you saw the recent Facebook intro,
their vision for the Metaverse
includes virtual homes
to hang out with your friends.
Meanwhile, other tech giants envision
the benefits for remote
work, retail, and beyond.
There's just one problem.
How do you pick up
a virtual piece of paper
or open a virtual door?
How do you interact, physically,
with the Metaverse?
After all, it doesn't technically exist.
The answer is Meta's latest haptic gloves
designed and developed
by Meta's research division, Reality Labs.
It's also Meta's first major announcement
since their rebranding in late October.
At the simplest level,
Meta's haptic glove prototype
is lined with around 15 plastic pads
known as actuators.
These pads are rigid and inflatable
to provide tactile feedback
as you navigate the Metaverse.
The pads are organized
around a wearer's palm,
under their fingers,
and on their fingertips.
They also work as a VR controller.
Along the back of the gloves,
small white markers allow the camera
to track finger movements in space.
Moreover, the internal sensors
detect bends or flexes
of the wearer's hands.
Using this data,
in conjunction with data
from the virtual world,
a person can detect
and "feel" objects.
Through its soft robotics system,
the VR glove has done away
with bulky motors
and their tiny air valves.
A sophisticated control system
applies pressure to different parts
of your hand by adjusting
the level of inflation.
So, pick up a plate in the virtual world,
and the finger pads inflate
to give that real-world feeling.
The glove was seven years in development
and can even reproduce the sensations
like running your hand along a surface.
It's all part of Meta's
$10 billion spending commitment
to developing virtual reality,
augmented reality,
and hardware to fuel the Metaverse.
However, though innovative,
simulated touch isn't completely unknown.
Existing VR technology often uses vibrations
to create the feeling of touching someone.
Other companies have also used wearables
to track users' hand movement
or provide sensation,
even integrating temperature sensors.
But no one has come close
to the levels of dexterity
and precise tactile feedback
that Meta's VR gloves have achieved.
It's only the beginning, however.
Right now, the gloves exclusively
give the feeling of contours.
But you can't tell different surfaces
apart solely through touch.
As Reality Labs engineer Katherine Healy
explained to The Verge,
"You could pet a dog,
"but you wouldn't feel the texture."
For that, you need high-density actuation
to really feel the fur.
It's not Meta's top priority,
but there is a drive to improve
high-quality sensation.
So, it might not be
as far away as you think.
On the other hand,
Meta's gloves need to be
radically slimmed down.
After all, no one wants to use
a VR glove that weighs too much.
It distorts the experience.
The gloves need to be light enough
that the virtual experience
is as seamless as the real one.
That could mean some form
of 3D knitting process
to ensure the gloves
are a precise skin-tight fit.
And then there's the matter
of washing the gloves.
But despite the ongoing hurdles and challenges,
the promise of tactile gloves
is already grabbing worldwide attention.
Especially the glove's potential
when combined with other virtual technologies
currently coming online.
One such technology
is the Omnidirectional Treadmill.
Sounding like a gadget straight out
of Back to the Future,
the treadmill may be the key
to a fully virtual interactive experience.
First came the VR headsets.
Letting you see the virtual world
in all its glory.
Next, Meta's VR gloves
let you feel the world around you.
Finally, the ability to run, walk, crouch,
and more are now possible
with the Omnidirectional Treadmill.
Unlike an ordinary treadmill,
Omnidirectional Treadmills,
like Omni One and Infinadeck,
allow users to move in any direction.
They also detect jumps,
crouches, and kneeling.
Think Ready Player One,
but only it's not 50 years away.
The technology is here now.
Picture the scene.
You're playing the latest Call of Duty.
You run and move through the map
using the Omnidirectional Treadmill.
When you stop and kneel,
your hand presses against the wall
activating your gloves.
As you squeeze the trigger,
you feel the tactile resistance.
Grab a plate or put your hand on a table,
and the object pushes back.
It's not real, but it's there.
But gaming is just the tip of the Metaverse.
The possibilities are endless.
You could play virtual baseball
and feel when the ball hit your hand.
You could hand papers to a colleague
in a virtual meeting
and not just be grasping at air.
No longer is the virtual world intangible,
explorable only through a joystick and keypad,
as the concept of the Metaverse expands
it's increasingly concrete.
But, what do you think?
Are Meta's latest gloves
an exciting new development
in the future of the internet?
Would you buy a pair?
Or does the entire idea of the Metaverse
still sound a little strange?
Let us know in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this video,
make sure to check out
our other videos on the channel.
Thanks for watching!
We'll see you next time.