Get a grip on VR!

As long as we approach the virtual reality like a gaming console, with a remote control or a target to aim at, we are doomed to keep a distance.
Instead, we should be in the middle, touching, grabbing, pulling, pushing and lifting the virtual around us.
Only then, we are fully immersed in the interface.

The GRIP provides the haptic feedback you need, to believe the thing you just grabbed is indeed a thing. We call that object presence.

From the first touch, the material stiffness, to the weight and other external forces. All are distinct directional forces.

What are we even doing?

In order to develop a universal virtual reality interaction tool, we conducted an in-depth analysis of how our hands interact with real-world objects in the majority of cases.
There are the well-established basic grips. The power grip, which involves wrapping the thumb and fingers around the object, is typically used for tasks that require a high level of force, such as lifting heavy objects or holding onto a pole.
The precision grip is used with smaller and lighter objects, pressing the object between a finger and the opposing thumb. Typically, the middle finger is the primary contact point, with the index and ring fingers providing additional support and orientation. In the case of very delicate or very small objects, the index finger may be used alone to pinch it against the thumb, which is the conventional representation of the precision grip.

We, as humans are lazy. Wherever we can substitute a high power action with a low power one, we do. This is our first premise for developing a device for VR.

Though VR is great for gaming, we don´t see VR predominantly as a gaming platform. It is, in its final incarnation a computer platform like (unlike) all that came before. A creative productivity machine. Just a spatial one.

That is why neither the usual trigger movement of the index finger, nor the power grip for lifting heavy objects is our focus in the search for an universal interaction concept.
The power grip reduces the movability of the grabbed object to that of the wrist and the trigger finger is utterly useless unless you want to simulate one singular type of contraptions.

Computer work is mainly a delicate adjusting-work, and therefore a repositioning task of possibly comfortably sized elements. Changing relation to other object, for example a slider to an endpoint of a scale or the orientation of a dial. Sorting data/objects into categories, aka folders. Or drawing lines and points on a canvas or in a construction space. Fine and delicate work.

We act on a spectrum

The second premise is: A universal approach should allow analogue input. Although the computer is digital, we humans are not.
It could be argued that pushing buttons is not an intuitive task for us, although it may be seen as a lazy approach. It is true that we are accustomed to using buttons and have learned to operate them effectively. However, unlike in the case of a switch, the extended index finger has never been particularly useful in interacting with a 3D environment and its objects.

A binary decision, repeated if necessary, is no substitute for working with analogue thresholds.
The Grip offers a wide angle of creative possibilities between the fingers, which can be utilized by UI designers and content creators. It also allows users to express their own creativity.

Feel it!

Our third premise: The right haptic feedback is essential to any action in the real world, and the same is true in VR if we are to have a sense of accomplishment in the interaction. The process of grasping objects is fundamentally dependent on haptic feedback at every step. Only when we feel that we have reached the surface of the object with our fingertips can we apply force to it to lift it or manipulate it in any way.
This is why hand tracking is so frustrating to use. We can only pretend to pick up an object. We´ll never really touch anything.

We humans have even developed a specialized nerve ending for this very purpose, the Meissner corpuscle.
A quick experiment will show you what that is:

Try to touch a surface so lightly that you cannot tell when you touched it! Impossible. Notice how tiny the forces involved are and how „loud“ the sensation is. Notice also how the sensation disappears as soon as you make contact.
This is the only sensation we can really call binary. This sensation of touch is the feedback that makes touchscreens usable, and is the crucial initial sensation in any manipulation. And it could unlock an unprecedented level of immersion in VR.

Haptics is a sensory orchestra. The instruments are mechanoreceptors that represent different physical experiences.
Meissner’s corpuscles detect touch, Merkel’s corpuscles detect pressure, Pacinian’s corpuscles detect vibration and Ruffini’s corpuscles tell us about the lateral stretch of the skin. None of these sensations can be triggered or replaced by another sensation. That’s why vibrotactile devices cannot satisfactorily simulate touch or pressure, let alone sophisticated haptic information such as the weight of an object or other external directional forces.

A robust product concept with mass production and longevity in mind.

As an Industrial designer, I know that the mass market feasibility of a product concept should include a low part count and a robust construction in order to reach an affordable price and a long life time. Both are impossible with an exoskeleton approach. Additionally, consumers don´t like to get strapped in anything and a long mounting time is one of the highest hurdle for a day to day use.

The robust product concept is built with future iterations in mind and the possibility of customization if a partnership with content creators lends to it.
The device will be suitable for left and right hands, interchangeable as one like. That means that investment in tooling and stock is drastically reduced compared with mirrored controller as usual today. That means that the user just buys two of them for a two handed experience.

Avoiding the tracker wars.

To really create a third pillar in the XR market, the GRIP will be self tracked. We are headset agnostic and can address all XR-users, whether they use a headset from Meta, Pico, HTC, Bigscreen or even Apple.

„A devkit for every MX Developer!“

VR developers! If YOU don´t like it, we are doomed.
So, please give us a try! We are working towards a MVP Dev-Kit to sell it at cost for early adopters. Be the first creating haptic content or implementing a new sense into your existing title and get in touch with us now!

PUI
The Physical User Interface

Our vision of a new sensible layer of man- machine interaction is hard to understand with out feeling it.
Haptic can transport meaningful information now. Not just indifferent rumble. A folder can communicate its Gigabit in gram, a lever let you feel its mechanical thresholds so you can look at its effect, a table can be impenetrable (well sort of), a snap-on point in a construction can feel magnetic, you will feel it even without seeing it. A pullup menu you have to pull up. A clay that you can feel deforming under your fingers. A thing you can actually touch. A Key that actually turns between your fingers. Things can have weight and inertia. Things are hard or soft. A trigger has a trigger point to overcome. You can feel the wind under a wing, a stone on a shovel, water filling a glas. You can plug a fruit from a tree, easy if it´s ripe, hard if it´s not. A companion or a friend on the other side of the world can guide you by pulling at your hand. Immersion on a whole new level!
Not to mention the endless possibilities in the education realm. Now you can feel the forces you have to apply when stitching a wound, the pressure you have to overcome in order to pull up a plane. There was simply no affordable way before, to communicate forces. Every task can be learned faster and easier the more senses are involved. There is much to do and much to discover.