>A Japanese technology start-up is banking on being able to deliver physical pain to people in the metaverse, one of a growing number of companies vying to profit by providing real-life human experiences in virtual worlds.
>H2L, a Sony-backed company founded a decade ago, has built a product that features an armband to detect the flexing of human muscles, enabling the user’s avatar in the metaverse to copy the body’s movements and people to actually feel the presence and weight of objects. The technology uses electrical stimulation to manipulate the arm muscles and mimic sensations, such as catching a ball or a bird pecking at the skin.
>“Feeling pain enables us to turn the metaverse world into a real [world], with increased feelings of presence and immersion,” said Emi Tamaki, chief executive and co-founder of the Tokyo-based company.
>Tamaki is a researcher in haptic technologies, which relate to the sense of touch. Her goal is to “release humans from any sort of constraint in terms of space, body and time” by 2029, when — with advances in networks and electronic devices — she expects H2L’s products to have myriad applications.