Although the current design is mainly focused on audiovisual improvement because this is our main senses used to reviewed information. Moreover, it focuses on the centralized place around the head, which is convenient for design and optimization. But some forgotten sensory designs have a crucial impact on a better VR experience, such as touch, smell or even taste. Precisely, its aim to build a somatosensory system, includes physiology, perception, and engineering technology, to achieve a comprehensive sensory experience.
The haptic design could significantly improve the VR experience. Haptic exploration involves several different types of interactions between hands and objects to get more accurately perceive the properties of objects, such as size, shape, weight, hardness and surface texture, and even tactile also gives us another way to recognize the geometry of an object. (Steven, 2019) The haptic design also has various applications in the field of design and games. For example, with haptic output equipment, rendering software can not only preview the appearance but also can display surface texture, softness, and other characteristics to make the prototype more realistic. A major problem with current VR handheld controllers is the mismatch between visual and tactile immersion.
Another tactile-related somatosensory attribute is temperature. TEGway’s technical research has introduced hot and cold temperature sensing, even painful feelings, for virtual reality experiences. This technology is called ThermoReal. Provide different hot and cold temperature performance by a small thermo-electric device, which could realize temperature change between 4 – 40 degree or even pinched pain simulation. (Kathleen, 2017)
Smell and taste are often be grouped because unlike other senses that realized through the physical method, smell and taste need to be realized through chemical reactions. (Steven, 2019) Currently, there are few odor-related equipment and many of them are used for military purposes. Besides, the appropriate mixing of odors, the intensity, and air flowing are difficult to control, so there is still a long way to go to achieve the best immersive experience.
VR MAN 