Get ready for a year of Virtual Reality like you’ve never seen it before. Haptics, new headsets, gloves? It’s all in this post.
2023 might just be VRs best year yet! Throughout 2022 we saw an explosion in technology developments and games. Plus with CES 2023 jam-packed with plenty of virtual reality companies, there is a lot to be excited about. In this post, we’re taking a look at what we’re excited for this year.
CES 2023: Great Tech to Look Out for This Year
Feel your game
Virtual reality gaming is a whole different beast than traditional on-screen gaming. With six degrees of freedom, motion controllers, or even hand tracking, VR is the most immersive way to game.
OWO Games are taking this immersion to the next level with the upcoming OWO Sleeves.
The OWO Sleeves were unveiled at CES 2023, where they were Innovation Awards Honorees. The haptic and electrostimulation system allows users to actively feel their arms tensing when pulling the string on a bow and arrow, picking up objects, and even gun recoil.
OWO’s Sleeves aren’t the only haptic they offer. Their previously announced founder edition haptic vest is available for pre-order and produces haptics across your whole upper torso.
Great for more than VR, OWO Haptic Gaming System is supported natively in five games, and semi-natively in fifteen more.
These include The Forrest, Beat Saber, Bone Lab, and even the likes of CS:GO and Valorant. You can see the full list of currently supported games here.
DiverX
Imagine VR without the need for controllers. DiverX is amongst several companies working to make this a reality. The Contact Glove provides force feedback using shape memory alloy (SMA) coils to replicate the feeling of touching or grasping an object.
The Contact Gloves make use of gestures for controlling actions in games and were backed via a Kickstarter campaign in 2022, with shipping expected sometime in February this year.
HTC Vive XR Elite
At CES 2023, we saw a whole host of new and improved tech demos for VR headsets. Amongst these were multiple headsets from Pimax and, of course, the upcoming PlayStation VR 2. What really stole the show for us, however, was the HTC Vive XR Elite.
Picking up the title of most awarded VR headset at CES 2023, the XR Elite has a lot going for it. (One of which is coming in over£200 cheaper than the Quest Pro). A key takeaway from the CES keynote was not just the performance of the XR Elite with a 1920×1920 Pixel Per Eye resolution and 110-degree field of view, but also the convertible and compact design.
The XR Elite is built to transform from an all-in-one XR headset to a pair of portable immersive glasses for gaming on the go. More to be excited about is the Elite’s vivid passthrough capabilities allowing game developers to utilise our own home in real time with mixed AR.
Finally, with built-in stepless IPD and diopter dials, you can game glasses free! A huge win for gamers who wear them.
Haritora X Wireless
Full-body tracking changes everything in social VR. With wireless full-body tracking, you can dance, and move around natively.
Haritora X Wireless was showcased at this year’s CES and is designed to add full-body tracking to any VR headset, such as the Quest 2.
*Haritora X Wired demo
With twenty hours of use possible on a single charge and six points of tracking (chest, hip, both knees, and both ankles) for just $349, the HaritoraX Wireless is potentially a game changer for full-body tracking.
Excited for 2023?
There is plenty more VR and AR tech on the way this year, let us know what VR tech you’re excited for in the comments.
- 4 min read
Robert Mullane
Author
When not working, you'll find me in VR or losing in bottom-tier Valorant matches. I write about all topic's tech and gaming with a particular focus on representation in gaming, virtual reality, and LGBTQ+ themes. If you're still not fed up with me, you can also catch me over on the Overclockers UK TikTok and YouTube accounts.
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