Dexmo
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ICYMI: Stack your dominoes and get the pizza delivered too
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Global pizza company Domino's is teaming up with drone delivery company Flirtey to launch an actual pie delivery service, via UAV, in New Zealand. The company has passed checks by the country's Civil Aviation Authority and aims to begin tests later this year. Meanwhile virtual reality gamers are (understandably) losing it over the latest thing to make VR look incredible: Dexmo exoskeleton gloves that are worn, then react as though objects within games are actually being manipulated.
Dexmo exoskeleton glove lets you touch and feel in VR
As much as we enjoy virtual reality these days, there's still the occasional urge to fiddle with virtual objects using just our hands. If all goes well, the upcoming Manus VR glove will be the first to unwrap our hands from controllers, but it'll only provide tactile feedback, meaning you still won't be able to feel the shape nor physical properties of virtual objects. This is where Dexmo comes in: This mechanical exoskeleton glove tracks 11 degrees of freedom of motion and offers variable force feedback for each finger. To put it simply, you'll be able to realistically squeeze a rubber duck in the VR world. Better yet, this seemingly clunky glove claim to be lightweight and also runs wirelessly "for a relatively long time."
Exoskeleton for your hand lets you feel virtual objects and control robots
Chinese company Dexta Robotics set out to develop a hand motion-capturing device last year, but instead of creating a glove like everybody else, they designed an impressively affordable exoskeleton. This device called Dexmo -- available in classic and F2 variants -- can be used as a virtual reality or a robot controller. For VR, it serves as a way to interact with the digital world within systems like the Oculus Rift -- the F2 version even has haptic feedback, letting you feel the size of the virtual object you've picked up on screen. The classic version, on the other hand, is purely an input device. In robotics, it can be used to control mechanical hands and arms, even ones designed for dangerous and sensitive tasks like bomb disposal.
Virtual reality gets touchy-feely with haptic exoskeleton
The world of virtual reality is constantly expanding, even though the major gaming headsets still aren't yet available to consumers – the most recent piece of interesting hardware is a hand exoskeleton that allows users to "feel" objects within virtual reality. It's called Dexmo (missed opportunity to use the way-cooler name "Phantom Limb") and it comes from Dexta Robotics. Dexta imagines a lineup of uses for Dexmo, including music production (a la Imogen Heap), drawing, rehabilitation, animation and, of course, virtual-world immersion. The company offers comparisons to similar VR input devices, including Leap Motion, which it classifies as an optical solution and as such can't offer any haptic feedback. Dexmo does have haptic technology, but it can't simulate "softness," a Dexta team member said in a Reddit AMA. Also covered in that AMA: Dexmo should cost less than $200, and a Kickstarter campaign should pop up in October seeking $200,000 or so. [Image: Dexta Robotics]
