If you’re new to the whole “kissing” thing or want some practice, the metaverse has great news: virtual snogging is coming soon. Thanks to the power of science, metaverse kissing will take online relationships to a whole new level, especially if things can be improved and expanded on if you all know what I mean.
All jokes aside, being able to emulate these feelings through VR technology is outstanding. However, it also brings us nearer to those dystopian futures where every moment of your life depends on virtual reality. Now, give Zuck a little kissy.
How do we smooch in the metaverse?
Scientists in Pennsylvania are working on the revolutionary metaverse kissing using a number of modified Oculus Quest 2 headsets. Apparently, this VR headset will be able to replicate the sensation of lip action through haptic technology. No planned release date for this has been announced but the fact that it's being worked on is intriguing in itself.
Interestingly enough, this revolutionary kissing technology will not put anything in your mouth. That sounds contradictory to actual kissing but this prototype headset will be placed above your nose, using haptics to push the feeling of kissing onto your face. like most of these accessories.
“Proximity of the mouth to the headset offers a significant opportunity to enable on- and in-mouth haptic effects, without needing to run wires or wear an extra accessory. We developed a thin, compact, beamforming array of ultrasonic transducers, which can render haptic effects onto the mouth. Importantly, all components are integrated into the headset, meaning the user does not need to wear an additional accessory, or place any external infrastructure in their room.”
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Future Interfaces Group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania via The Daily Mail.
Haptic technology uses vibrations and motions to replicate certain feelings, as the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller has shown. We’re not sure if kissing feels like constant vibration on the lips but it’s the closest thing virtual reality can do right now. Personally, here’s hoping the kissing feels good because we can’t imagine vibration on the mouth being comfortable or satisfying.
Read More:Zuckerberg reveals better Hand Tracking for a controller-less Metaverse
Can we do more than kissing in the Metaverse?
Smooching people aside, the scientists want to recreate more mouth experiences, which sounds creepy but its not. Through haptic technology, researchers are hoping to recreate the feeling of brushing teeth, smoking cigarettes, and drinking water. If you were all hoping to do the thing after kissing, that might require more surreal technology than what this headset can handle.
Admittedly, it’s a little creepy to see scientists try to recreate real-life sensations most people can experience in real life. While metaverse kissing is interesting, you might want to download Bumble or Tindr to experience that. If you get lucky, you might even get a second date and that’s truly revolutionary.