Virtual Reality and Feeling the Music
The world is about to get more interesting. We already see the rise of the Metaverse or the AR cloud with companies such as Fortnite hosting concerts, creating products like Magic Leap, and different games such as Pokemon Go by businesses like Niantic.
Remember that all of this is happening in a world where we communicate with GIFS and memes. It is a world where JC Penney and other traditional retail firms are on the decline, while Facebook, a prominent VR producer, buys up GIPHY for $400 million.
Each of these firms aims to bring about or contribute to a SnowCrash type of reality, where one plugs into the Metaverse and spends more time in that domain.
TV shows like Upload from Amazon even portray a world where one can upload their experiences and consciousness into the cloud and live forever in that reality. The advent and the adoption of digital currencies such as bitcoin and ethereum point to the fact that this will happen sooner than we think.
The issue at present is that we are still separated from that virtual world in more ways than one. While this is helpful in times of a pandemic where one must practice social distancing, it leaves one with a lack of in-person connection. We aren’t immersed in that metaverse like in real life.
There is substantial separation.
We can see and hear, but we can’t feel or smell in the metaverse.
One company seeks to solve a part of this problem and bridge that chasm when it comes to feeling audio. Feelbelt hails from Germany and produces Feelbelt items.
Experience Sound Better with FeelBelt
The company aims to make the world a better place by revolutionizing the listening experience for all people, including those who can’t hear. Feelbelt works by transmitting impulses on the skin.
The skin happens to be the largest sensory organ of the body and serves as the perfect conduit to experience sound in a wholly different fashion.
Users of the Feelbelt can become more immersed in the sound and feel more in tune with their experience. For instance, if they’re playing a game, they can hear and sense someone behind them. If watching a movie, they can experience the action more smoothly.
The Feelbelt is patented worldwide according to the company and provides users with an incredible auditory experience.
Feelbelt is bringing the world one step closer to being immersed in a metaverse. It’s solving the audio aspect of immersion in the digital realm. Companies will continue to innovate and bring about ways to allow people to immerse themselves in an alternate reality.
We already have visual immersion with VR and AR. Graphics are getting better for games and movies; the next step is being in the game.
Will Hershey of Roundhill notes, “Epic Games just released footage of its Unreal Engine 5 running on PlayStation 5. We’re getting to the point where games and feature films have become virtually indistinguishable. Wow.”
Users will start feeling as if they are the lead character of the game as opposed to someone controlling an avatar.
The future will be wild, and Feelbelt is one of the niche groups of companies building toward this future. Check out FeelBelt on Kickstarter here and be sure check out our interview with the creative team behind Feelbelt below, or listen to the podcast.