Electrical Stimulation Controls Fingers

A new solution from the University of Chicago’s Human Computer Integration Laboratory, combined electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) and mechanical brakes. DextrEMS, a haptic device invented and developed in the Department of Computer Science. As EMS electrodes on the forearm move fingers to their desired position, ratchet brakes at the finger joints lock them in the target gesture and restrict unwanted movement from other fingers.

EMS works by affixing electrodes to the user’s skin, then sending small, painless electrical signals that cause muscles to contract. For controlling the fingers, EMS electrodes are commonly placed on the wrist and forearm, where the finger muscles originate. But because of this distance and the close proximity of muscles for different fingers, it’s hard to control digits independently. Even natural motion, controlled by the brain, struggles to move a single finger without also moving its neighbors.

More information:

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/new-wearable-device-controls-individual-fingers-sign-language-music

HTC Vive Flow Focus on Improving Mental Health

Vive Flow is a new, smartphone-compatible headset designed for media consumption focused on helping users relax and improve their mental health. Weighing in at 189g with a dual-hinge design to adjust to most heads, Vive Flow will allow users to watch movies streamed off their phones using Miracast, enjoy meditation apps like TRIPP and connect with colleagues and friends using Vive Sync. Vive Flow has a 100-degree field of view (FoV), 3.2K resolution (2x 2.1” LCD 1600 x1600 per eye) and a 75 Hz refresh rate. The device should be great for those who wear glasses as it has an in-built diopter adjustment on each lens up to -6.0D. 

 Other features include 6DoF tracking, 4GB RAM, 64GB of storage, stereo speakers, an active cooling system and the ability to connect to an external power source – a 10,000mAh Vive power bank will be separately available – when not connected to a phone. There is a small internal battery that’ll last around five minutes, purely there for hot swapping between power sources. Because Vive Flow doesn’t have any controllers’ users will be able to use their phones as a 3DoF controller instead. In fact, Vive Flow is completely geared around phone connectivity, if you’re not using it to select an app then you can screencast onto the headset. Currently, these features are only supported on Android devices.

More information:

https://www.vrfocus.com/2021/10/htc-vive-flow-is-all-about-improving-mental-health/

New Balance Shoes In VR

Wolf3D’s free-to-use 3D avatar creator Ready Player Me is moving at a rapid pace. Over the past several months the company has partnered with numerous organizations to expand its creator platform with additional features and clothing options. Recently, the company announced another partnership with the popular sports footwear brand New Balance to further expand its catalog of VR clothing.

To access these new clothing options, you’ll need to visit New Balance’s new web-based experience, which was developed in partnership with online retailer. Once you’ve loaded into the world, click on the interactive button adjacent to the Mellor avatar. Here you can create a new avatar or edit your existing model.

More information:

https://vrscout.com/news/you-can-now-wear-new-balance-shoes-in-vr/