Plans of the Apple for virtual reality include “cyber-socks” and shoes

It seems that Apple want to be present in virtual reality from head to toe. Literally, since even “cyber-socks” can enter the game. In addition to the headset, which can debut in 2022, the company registered a license recently discussing a wearable haptic device for the feet.

Haptic refers to something that is sensitive to touch, that which is tactile. And this is where the patent peripheral follows, seeking to make the person's presence in virtual reality even more immersive, with socks or shoes developed to provide a sensation of different types of ground. Something in this haptic sense is brought by the controls PS5 DualSense, which transmits texture of the game environment through vibration.

Walking without leaving the place

Feedback from these potential devices haptics can also bring a motion experience to users. In other words, the virtual reality socks of Apple can make players feel like they're walking, even while remaining in the same place. This sensation should be similar to more traditional examples of haptic feedback in controllers, such as triggers with different resistances to mimic different weapons.

In this sense, for running, the wearable can be imagined on the feet of runners, with different types of tracks that would be simulated by the device. Apple. Or, going a little further, the socks could bring the person the pleasant sensation of a good foot massage in some spa environment created in augmented reality.

According to the company's patent application, "Feedback is driven by asymmetric sawtooth drive signals that move the haptic output components forward and backward by equal amounts, providing the user with a sense of movement in a single direction while the foot remains in a fixed location." The socks virtual reality da Apple, according to the documentation, should be developed with piezoelectric and electroactive polymers, along with several coils and magnets.

Keep in mind that a patent doesn't mean that a specific technology will actually be implemented. But if it's for full immersion, why would the feet be left out?

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