According to Variety, Disney is working with a research and development team from MIT and Carnegie Mellon University on a brand new virtual-reality experience. The new experience comes in the form of the “wearable Force Jacket, which is designed to let someone experience physical sensations.”
The jacket uses “26 pneumatically-actuated airbags force sensors” to allow wearers to feel physical experiences like being hugged. The prototype application for the jacket has been a virtual snowball fight experience, in which the jacket reacts when the wearer is virtually hit with a snowball.
While this jacket is still in an early development phase it is clear to see how this could be integrated into a virtual reality experience that Disney already has on their property. This is pure speculation, but ILMxLAB and The VOID’s Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire experience in both Downtown Disney in California and Disney Springs in Florida could potentially be where this jacket would be integrated.
Credit: Variety
