Skinetic: feel rain, wind and shots in VR! [Laval Virtual 2022]

This article is also available in: French

During Laval Virtual 2022, we had the opportunity to meet Actronika, a company working on haptic solutions. One of their products is Skinetic, a haptic vest that can be used with VR experiences. Skinetic relies on voice-coil motors to provide a wide range of sensations, from a light breeze to shots fired at the user.

We were quite impressed with this product: Skinetic is easy to pu on, lightweight, and can be adjusted to fit people with very different body builds. Skinetic provides realistic sensations and the spatialization capacities are very good. Overall, this is a nice product for location-based entertainment.

We interviewed Clara Echassoux, Business Developer at Actronika: she gave us a short presentation of Skinetic, and also told us about the underlying technology.
(French audio, English and French subtitles available)

Actronika had previously launched a Kickstarter campaign, but the funding goal was not reached. The company isn’t planning to stop working on Skinetic, though, and you can register on the official website to be notified as soon as you can pre-order. Skinetic will cost around 600€ (excluding VAT and delivery costs). A battery + charger is provided, and the inner layer is washable.