With new vest, players feel the game

Several School of Engineering and Applied Science graduate students are working on a project that could revolutionize video games.

The Tactile Gaming Vest — a vest that makes the player feel the physical effects of being shot in a game — is a Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics class project that was showcased at the 2010 IEEE Haptics Symposium in Boston.

A group of graduate students from the Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environments and Teleoperation class, MEAM-625, used their experience with computer games as the basis for creating the gaming feedback device.

“I think the [vest] is a really interesting idea and could someday become a standard accessory to playing video games,” said Ned Naukam, Engineering and Wharton junior, who joined the project in fall 2009.

Haptic interfaces, the science of humans interacting with their environments, makes what the user feels closer to what is felt in reality, said Engineering professor Katherine Kuchenbecker, director of the Haptics Group.

“People are really excited by games that are more interactive and immersive,” Kuchenbecher said.

Students looked at the quality of the haptic feedback in the vest’s original version, made by a company called TN Games, and found that the effects needed to feel more authentic or startling, Kuchenbecker explained.

“As a product designer you want to make sure the system is as authentic as it can be,” Kuchenbecker said.

Students were able to receive second-hand accounts of people being shot from Mike Felker, former medic for the United States Marines during the Vietnam War and a computer and information science administrator, she added.

With the help of 12 small motors, students added vibration feedback that, when activated, gives off the sensation of being slashed. The vest also comes with directional cues, so the player gets shot in the direct location he or she was shot at in the game, which makes it easier to counter-attack.

The graduate students also have new prototypes of the vest with an added thermal component that heats up and cools down the skin, creating the illusion of burning or pain, Kuchenbecker said.

The vest could be used for a variety of applications such as laser tag and even military training, said Saurabh Palan, a master’s student in robotics, who worked on the project.

“It feels just right. It’s strong enough that you know you’re being shot, but it doesn’t hurt at all,” Palan said.

Although the effects can be made more painful, Palan stressed the fine line between pain and pleasure, adding that they don’t want to bruise anyone.

“I thought it was fantastic. As a gamer, I knew it would be a good mix for me. It feels more immersive and addictive,” said Eddie Li, a master’s student in mechanical engineering and a recent addition to the project.

Games like Rock Band and Wii attest to the fact that games are becoming more lifelike, Li added.

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