While various companies providing this type of hardware are mainly focused on the enterprise sector (e.g. Senseglove), bHaptics focuses on both enterprise and gaming. Its accessories are usually quite affordable, and bHaptics works a lot with game developers to integrate its hardware with games available on stores like the Meta Quest Store or SteamVR. When I was working on the fitness game HitMotion: Reloaded, I worked with them, and I have to say it is one of the best companies I’ve ever collaborated with: they provided us with the hardware, plus all the facilities to have a smooth integration. We integrated everything in a few hours. If you are a game studio, I would really advise considering a collaboration with them.
When I was at their booth, I was able to go hands-on with the latest iteration of their Haptic vest and Haptic gloves. The main focus of the experience was the gloves, though, so I will focus my review on them.
I tried these new gloves by bHaptics for around 10 minutes (so consider this article a “first impressions” post and not a complete review). Wearing them was very easy, and the fact that the closing strap was magnetic and not with velcro made it incredibly easy to put them on and off. I can’t comment on the sensations of the gloves’ material on the skin, because I was wearing an internal hygiene glove. But overall, the fit was good, and the glove felt pretty lightweight. My only complaint on the comfort side is that you can constantly feel the little vibrational engines touching your fingertips. It is like always having a watch battery strapped to your finger. I don’t know if this sensation goes away with the constant use of the glove, but for sure, in my short demo, I kept having it.
bHaptics showed me a demo about repairing a spaceship (which also contained a cat I could pet, so it was definitely good). In the demo, there were buttons to touch, knobs to rotate, and elements to grab. After the demo, there was a playground where I could keep interacting with various objects to test the sensation given by the glove.
I have to say that compared to when I last tried bHaptics gloves a couple of years ago, the product made a big jump ahead. The purely “touch” sensations were now definitely good. Touching buttons, touching objects, touching the table… all felt much more immersive with bHaptics gloves than without. Compared to the past, it seems the haptic sensation is much more nuanced. In the demo, I could touch a sphere hanging from the ceiling and then a similar-but-heavier sphere, and I could clearly feel the difference in haptics. All buttons in the experience were incredibly nice to touch. I can’t say the haptic sensation was the same as in real life, but I can say in some cases it started to go towards the “believable” stage. The sensation the haptic motors can give on the fingertips is now not the one of “vibrating”, but the subtle sense of “touching”, and this is simply amazing. It has been one of the best haptic sensations I had on my fingertip in the last times.