Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
The Internet Technology

Startup Says Its Tech Can Inflict Actual Pain in the Metaverse (futurism.com) 81

A Japanese startup called H2L Technologies wants you to be able to feel pain inside the metaverse, via a wristband that dishes out small electric shocks. Futurism reports: "Feeling pain enables us to turn the metaverse world into a real [world], with increased feelings of presence and immersion," H2L CEO Emi Tamaki told the Financial Times. The Sony-backed startup's wearable isn't designed with only inflicting pain in mind. It's also meant to convey "weight and resistance feeling to users and avatars on the Metaverse," according to the company.

Thanks to the wristband's electrical stimulation, it can mimic a range of sensations from catching a ball to a bird pinching the wearer's skin. Tamaki's goals are much greater than a simple wristband. She's hoping to "release humans from any sort of constraint in terms of space, body and time" within the next decade.

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Startup Says Its Tech Can Inflict Actual Pain in the Metaverse

Comments Filter:
  • "release humans from any sort of constraint in terms of space, body and time"

    Go big or go...{ fully and truly inane? }

    No hyperbole here, much....

  • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Thursday March 24, 2022 @09:46PM (#62387859)
    And it was dumb then. There was a vest that made you feel like you were being punched. Everything old is stupid again.
    • There was a vest that made you feel like you were being punched.

      That was from Ready Player One [getyarn.io]. I don't remember anyone ever actually selling a real haptics vest that actually simulated being punched. The biggest problem with creating simulated blows is Newton's 3rd law of motion. Whatever sort of mechanical device you have pushing on the wearer is also creating an equal force on the vest itself. This basically means any sort of vest that really can pack a virtual wallop is going to be bulky and uncomfortable, even when it's not beating the crap out of you.

      That said

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by sinij ( 911942 )
      I think your entire posting history could be submitted as prior art.
  • The rest of us just looks on in wonder at the level of stupidity expressed in the idea.

    • Wait a minute. You've never wanted to punch someone over the Internet? Ever?
      • You have this backwards. This is for people who want to get punched over the internet.

        • For an additional fee, the company will send a gang of thugs over to the home of the person you want punched and force the wristband onto them.

          Yes, you could just have a thug throw the punch, but where's the fun in that? This way you get to deliver the blow yourself even if you're physically weak.

          • This is like one of those weird, flaccid fantasies that get posted by Anonymous Coward, imaging somebody stronger than them beating up the (not even scary) people they dislike.

            No, there is no connection between this and armed thugs, gang activity, or racketeering. Get a life.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • > The rest of us just looks on in wonder at the level of stupidity expressed in the idea.

      Shhh - they're applying selective genetic pressures against themselves.

  • by Barny ( 103770 ) on Thursday March 24, 2022 @10:02PM (#62387883) Journal

    A wristband that delivers small electric shocks

    Or is it a cock ring for electrostim masochists?

    • You forgot to say asking for a friend.
    • Or is it a cock ring for electrostim masochists?

      That's most likely already a thing. If it can be connected to the internet and genitals, someone's done it.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Teledildonics have been around for a couple of decades now. As soon as someone makes a practical groin attachment for VR the tech will go mainstream.

  • This could be used to correct nonconformant behavior. Give racists a zap every time they click a Breitbart link.

    We could save Democracy!

    • I'd rather give Representatives a zap every time they fail to represent The People.

      That, is what has destroyed Democracy.

      • I'd rather give Representatives a zap every time they fail to represent The People.

        and you thought cryptocurrency mining uses a lot of electricity..

    • This could be used to correct nonconformant behavior. Give racists a zap every time they click a Breitbart link.

      We could save Democracy!

      I don't think there was ever a regime in history where racists were physically punished for their opinions. However, there were plenty of regimes in history where racists physically punished others for their opinions.

  • This preoccupation with The Mirror Universe isn't healthy, people. I want to make a Full Defense Build...
  • Like sleazy porn shop weird.
    • Like sleazy porn shop weird.

      Ah, no. A "Digital Dick" or "Love Glove", would be sleazy porn shop weird.

      Wanting to inflict pain, implies you wish to execute a measure of control.

      And I do mean execute.

      This isn't sleazy. This is completely fucked up.

    • Like sleazy porn shop weird.

      Not that I'm a connoisseur of establishments that deal in erotic adult entertainment, but I'm pretty sure even the sleazy ones don't go around electrocuting their customers. If it's a particularly dry day and you're shuffling around a bit on the carpet, yeah, you might do it to yourself when you pick something off the shelf - but that can happen anywhere.

    • by jd ( 1658 )

      That would be Teledildonics, Ted Nelson's vision for the Internet.

  • A device that attaches to various body areas associated with pleasure.

    • A device that attaches to various body areas associated with pleasure.

      Next? Considering that the foundation of the internet was poured with porn, why exactly did pain come before pleasure? What kind of premature shit...

      • Next? Considering that the foundation of the internet was poured with porn, why exactly did pain come before pleasure? What kind of premature shit...

        It didn't. Just about every adult streaming "entertainer" owns some sort of WiFi-equipped pleasure-inducing gadget intended for use in the neither regions. So I've heard..

  • >She's hoping to "release humans from any sort of constraint in terms of space, body and time" within the next decade.

    Ketamine already does this.

    • So does being in a coma.

      Which apparently the inventors of such logic, either haven't thought about the concept of a human still needing food, water, and sleep to literally survive, or they simply don't care because CorpBox Live is going to come with a monthly IV drip subscription service.

      How else are you going to keep your virtual slaves working, and inflict pain when they don't.

      • > How else are you going to keep your virtual slaves working, and inflict pain when they don't.

        That is where the feeding tube comes in, with the feed delivery subscription. Users will volunteer to get the feeding tube to make metaspace more 'real'. Somewhere between electric shock and starvation CorpBox Live gets compliance. With more users CorpBox can mine more humancoin, which is sold to users for in-metaspace purchases, IRL adult diaper services.

        • It's odd that people will look at these comments in complete disbelief and assume it will never happen.

          Ironically, these are the same morons who tweet quotes from Orwell's 1984 at least once a month for fashion and fuck's sake.

  • ... nobody is going to hack that. nobody at all.

  • Finally, my dream of beating up foul-mouthed 12-year-olds online is going to come true! ;)

  • Filthy Cardassian...
    There are FOUR Lights!!

  • Convincing everyone I'm mad at to wear one.
  • Looks like [SA]HatfulOfHollow finally got around to inventing a device to stab people in the face over the Internet [bash.org]!

  • I feel pain in the regular-verse whenever someone mentions "the Metaverse".

  • This is dumb.

  • ...or they will make the device mandatory for people working from home.
  • Meta will sue this startup on short notice. They already have a patent on inflicting pain in the Metaverse. It's called putting people in the Metaverse.

    • Second Life real estate prices, together with the total lack of any actual benefits, caused enormous pain.

    • Meta will sue this startup on short notice. They already have a patent on inflicting pain in the Metaverse. It's called putting people in the Metaverse.

      The company will just switch to an ankle bracelet. Then Meta won't have a leg to stand on.

  • by jd ( 1658 )

    It's obvious where this ends up, the cyberpunk genre speaks of nothing else.

  • Imagine if the stakes were raised in Call of Duty - not just psychological pain at losing but real physical pain as well! Would be fascinating to know whether the carrot or the stick is best for improving performance in these games.
  • Get people cablemodems with a puma chipset, that randomly disconnects you.

    Nobody can hear you scream "cyka blyat" and "kurrrwa" when you're offline.

  • So, shouldn't some form of tentacle tele-dildonics be more in line with their philosophy?

  • For anyone who has any doubt at all where this is heading... go watch Upload on Amazon Prime Video -- with the caveat that it is a very much adult oriented show, so you might not want to let your kids watch it with you. The executive summary is simply: "VR Suits" end up being primarily a method of getting lucky with ... erm ... stiffs. And I'll just leave it at that.

  • by ktakki ( 64573 )

    We are incrementally closer to my dream of stabbing people in the face over the internet.

  • ...Clockwork Orange button.

  • Gotcha. Teledildonics for the S&M crowd. It'll sell like crazy. :D

  • Imagine working customer support for this company.
    Uh.. my pain thingy isn't working right. Can you help?
    Sure.. ID number... Ok. Let me know if this hurts.
    OWW, Mother of Jesus... FUeh
    So it works?
    Eh... that was better. Could you make it hurt a bit more?

    Oh what a satisfying job.

Somebody ought to cross ball point pens with coat hangers so that the pens will multiply instead of disappear.

Working...