The world of virtual reality is becoming more real each day. Most recently, researchers from Cornell University have created a glove that makes touching through VR a reality.

Technological developments in 2020 are firing on all cylinders. There is something new coming up each day, but nobody thought that virtual reality could get any more real than it already is.

Researchers disagree. They are making VR more immersive.

With new developments in VR, you could actually pick up an object and feel it in your hands. Thanks to Cornell University researchers who have designed a sensor that tracks the movement of your hands. The primary purpose of this development is to make virtual reality more tactical and immersive as users can slide on this glove, and feel the objects.

Fibre-optic sensors on Cornell Researchers’ Glove

Many scientists and researchers have been trying to add a physical experience to a somewhat robotic world. All of their experiments included either haptic sensors or mechanical wires. This one particular creation of Cornell researchers has stretchable fibre optic sensors that sit on top of your hand like a spider web.

Silica-based distributed fibre-optic sensor (DFOS) systems are a renowned tool for sensing stress, pressure, vibration, warmth, and moisture. This glove has a stretchable fibre-optic sensor that extends to the length of your fingers, with tips lit up with LED lights. The current framework is pretty simple with bands wrapped around fingers, a battery attached on the wrist, Bluetooth and some basic circuits.

Sensors on these gloves bend with the movement of fingers, making the whole experience as closer to reality as it can get. It may sound impressive, but this feature is not the hero of the show. It is the fibre optics that allow the user to feel the force, pressure, and stress caused by the movements.

“Right now, sensing is done mostly by vision. We hardly ever measure touch in real life. This skin is a way to allow ourselves and machines to measure tactile interactions in a way that we currently use the cameras in our phones. It’s using vision to measure touch. This is the most convenient and practical way to do it in a scalable way.” Lead researcher Rob Shepherd said.

A VR glove may sound fun, but it can serve a much essential purpose. Researchers believe that fibre optic glove will make soft robots more efficient. Machines and robots can contribute more than ever to the advancement of the world through VR.

The creators are currently developing the product further and analyzing how it can help in the world of medicine, physical therapy, and sports.