VR Dream Match Baseball in its latest version enables the experience of what a 100 mph fastball feels like on impact.
Up to 15 different types of pitches—including something as detailed as the split-fingered fastball—are recreated in this experience from Tokyo-based production company AOI Pro. And when wearing an HTC Vive headset along with a mitt or holding a controller, the user is going to experience what the impact feels like.
“In order to create a more effective experience, the ‘Impact-equipped Mitt and Bat’ has been developed, which raises the touch-feedback in the mitt and bat from ‘vibration’ to ‘impact,’” according to AOI Pro, which plans to use the mitt and bat at exhibitions and has also opened a Silicon Valley office.
“Most users felt some sense of fear at the experience of catching the ‘1st pitch,’ and there were even some who said that their shoulder hurt when they missed the ball. The development team viewed this as being a key proof that ‘an experience in a VR space can move the heart.’”
The development of the mitt and bat incorporated haptics research findings from a research group at the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design assigned to the Embodied Media Project, which studies the creation of new physical experiences using technology. The project aims to create future media technologies that record, share, enhance, and design embodied experiences.
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Source: Sports Illustrated