Fold it, hold it

Handheld device shapes virtual world into sensory experience, Li Yingxue reports.

You are standing on a piece of floating ice, surrounded by water. With a forceful stamp of your foot, the ice instantly breaks, and you find yourself plunging downward.

This captivating scene unfolds within the virtual world of a head-mounted device. What truly enhances the sense of reality and fear is the tactile feedback you experience when the surface of the ice breaks, evoking the sensation of falling.

Even though it's a virtual experience, the fear sends your heart rate shooting up.

As well as a head device, there is a mat to stand on, and a curved-origami device that is held in the hand.

The equipment that allows people to touch and feel objects in the virtual environment was recently developed by a research team, led by Professor Jiang Hanqing, from Westlake University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

The handheld origami-enabled variable stiffness module enables users to actively sense the feel of different objects in the virtual world, ranging from soft to hard and from positive to negative.