This Japanese Startup Wants To Bring Real Physical Pain Into The Metaverse

As the metaverse catches on, with users already shelling out ludicrous prices for virtual land online, here’s another invention that aims to bring the digital world closer to reality: a wristband that allows you to feel physical pain. 

The idea of a wearable with haptic feedback isn’t new, considering Meta announced last year that its researchers were working on a similar glove—though it wasn’t focused on inflicting pain on its users. 

Japanese startup H2L Technologies, backed by Sony, is the brain behind this mission, having designed a wearable that offers small electric shocks to users in order to further blur the line between the way we think, feel, and play in reality and the metaverse. 

Emi Tamaki, the company’s chief, told the Financial Times that feeling pain could help bridge the distance between the metaverse and the real world.

Tamaki’s goals are rather lofty, as she hopes to free humankind from “space, body, and time” constraints as soon as within the next 10 years. She said the idea of a haptic wearable came to her following a near-death experience in her teens due to a congenital heart disease. 

Contrary to critics’ opinion that the metaverse will pull users away from the real world, Tamaki feels her invention will allow them to better connect to the outdoors, especially for those who lack muscle and mobility in real life due to illnesses.

If you’re squeamish when it comes to the idea of pain, you’ll be relieved to know that apart from electric shocks, the wristband will produce sensations of “weight and resistance” so users can experience what their avatars are facing online. 

Impressively, as per Futurism, the wearable is so precise it can replicate an entire range of haptic sensations—from the feeling of catching a ball to a bird pinching at your skin. 

Will you be one of the early adopters of wearable haptic technology for an even more immersive experience in the virtual world? Or is it a step too far in replicating the metaverse to be just like the real world? There’s likely to be a divide on this one. 

[via Futurism and Financial Times, images via H2L Technologies]