We’ve been hearing a lot about the possibilities of the metaverse in recent times and, more specifically, about how it could transform gaming. One area that perhaps hasn’t received the attention it deserves is the question of what new hardware we might need to enjoy this way of going online.
The Need to Use VR Devices
We can get an idea of how metaverse gaming might affect how we play by looking at Betfair Casino online slots, where there are slots based on various themes such as ancient cultures, treasure-hunting adventures, and wild animals in their natural habitat. While they’re currently as immersive as current technology allows, putting them into the metaverse could give players a chance to feel that they’re truly entering these different places as they spin the reels.
This is why virtual reality (VR) headsets are a crucial part of the experience. These objects allow us to enter the metaverse and interact with the people and objects that are there. The Meta Quest 2 headset is one of the leading devices, reflecting the desire for progress shown by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg when he spoke about his faith in the metaverse as he re-branded Facebook to its current name, Meta.
The list of the best VR headsets in 2023 compiled by ZDNet also includes the likes of the HTC Vive, the Sony PlayStation VR, and the Pimax Vision 8K Plus. It will continue to be possible for players to use the metaverse without a headset for a more limited experience, while the introduction of smart glasses could eventually give us a different way of gaming that may prove to be more flexible in terms of being able to use them anywhere, discreetly.
Wearables for the Metaverse
The creation of various wearables could help us to get even more benefits from the metaverse. This Haptic Metaverse Glove, explained here by Mixed, tracks the user’s movements and uses coated fibers to send electrical feedback, with wire mesh used in place so that it can replace VR controllers.
Motion capture could prove to be one of the key aspects of the metaverse, as it will allow our onscreen avatars to accurately reflect our real-life movements. The ground-breaking work on the movie, Avatar: The Way of Water shows how far this technology has come, although presently, the cost makes it less than a realistic option for most gamers.
Work is being carried out by several companies on innovative motion suits that will perform the task of capturing our movements and representing them on screen. The likes of Sony and Tesla have been working on this, while the Fashion Innovation Agency combined Outernet London and Move.Ai to create a wonderful demonstration that combined fashion and art with motion capture.
All of these types of hardware should become more accessible and inexpensive over time as they start to become more popular and our use of the metaverse changes. For the moment, gaming in the metaverse is still in the early stages, but these pieces of the hardware give us a glimpse of how exciting the future could be.
