Yes, it works with Oculus Rift.
Despite how far gaming tech has come over the years, controllers still offer the same basic feedback that the Dualshock/Rumble Pak introduced in ’97. It’s alright, and at times is better than no feedback at all, but there’s really not much to it. Now with devices like Oculus Rift promising to bring workable VR tech to the masses, frankly, rumble just won’t cut it anymore. To fix that, a startup named Tactical Haptics wants to make games feel physically immersive with a little devices called the Reactive Grip.
Grafted atop a customized Razer Hydra, the Reactive Grip has four sliding contact bars built into the handle. To simulate things like the kick of a handgun or the nibble of a fish on the end of a line, it slides those contact bars around, making it feel as if it’s actually moving in your hand. The actual technique is referred to as “skin stretch feedback”, which is a phrase that should be kept far away from any future marketing. The controller is designed to work with the Sixense STEM, Razer Hydra, or any other motion tracking device you can bolt onto the front.
And yes, Tactical Haptics is attempting to Kickstart the device, but as of the time of writing, it’s well short of its $175,000 goal, with less than two days to go. While there’s not much hope for this round of crowdfunding, hopefully it gets a lucky break somewhere down the line, because I’d love to see this kind of tech grow.
Source: Tactical Haptics
