Actronika: Touching the metaverse

The Third Angle

“The biggest organ in the human body is skin. Not addressing it is totally impossible in any type of metaverse, or parallel world, that you would like to emulate.”

It’s not enough that we can see and hear the virtual world, to become truly immersed we need to feel it - to interact with all our senses. And that’s exactly what Actronika is doing with its haptics vest Skinetic. This incredible bit of kit recreates the sense of touch on your skin, using advanced technology to make your experience ultra-realistic.

In this episode we meet Actronika’s CEO Gilles Meyer and CTO Rafal Pijewski. Learn about the three parts of touch that are required to create these high-definition sensations. Hear as our producer is plunged into a virtual world, bombarded with feelings of wind, hail and fireballs. And find out what the future holds for the technology, and the industries it's set to transform.

Also hear from Jon Hirschtick, who heads up PTC’s Onshape division. He explains the role Onshape is playing in bringing the vision of Skinetic to life.

Find out more about Actronika here, and Skinetic here.

Find out more about Onshape here.

Your host is Paul Haimes from industrial software company PTC.

Episodes are released bi-weekly. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for updates.

This is an 18Sixty production for PTC. Executive producer is Jacqui Cook. Sound design and editing by Ollie Guillou. Location recording by Rebecca Rosman. Music by Rowan Bishop.