This Japanese start-up wants to create the "most authentic pain experience" in the Metaverse virtual universe

The technology of the start-up H2L will allow users to experience the senses while they are in the virtual world.

A Japanese technology start-up called H2L is trying to bring the most realistic feelings like pain to people in the virtual world.

H2L, a Sony-backed company founded a decade ago, has built a product that functions like a wristband, which detects muscle flexion, allowing a person's avatar to used in the metaverse to copy body movements and feel the presence and weight of objects. The technology uses electrical stimulation to control the arm muscles and mimic sensations, such as catching a ball or a bird pecking at the skin.

“Pain allows us to transform the virtual world into a real world where we will have a more sense of presence and immersion,” said Emi Tamaki, CEO and co-founder of H2L .

Tamaki is a researcher in tactile technology. Her goal is to "liberate people from any kind of constraints of space, body and time" by 2029. She hopes H2L products will have a multitude of applications.

H2L belongs to a growing group of Japanese companies and investors that are exploiting the blurred line between the real and virtual worlds. According to data provider Tracxn, the top 10 virtual reality startups in Japan have raised $60 million.

Before that, Facebook even changed the company name to Meta in October 2021. In November 2021, Meta announced they were developing a tactile vibrating glove, and Spanish start-up OWO has also developed a vest equipped with sensors, allowing the user to feel sensations ranging from hugs to gunshots.

According to people familiar with the company's plans, H2L is estimated to have raised $8.4 million and is valued at $41 million.

Tamaki began working in haptics after she had a near-death experience as a teenager from a congenital heart condition. She then came up with the idea to create a technology that would allow physical experiences to be linked to a computer while she was in the hospital. Tamaki became a co-founder of the company after earning a doctorate in engineering from the University of Tokyo. “I realized that life is precious, so I decided to work on a new field that I really wanted to delve into, because no one was researching at the time,” Tamaki said .

Tamaki says the technology can be used for games, but people can also use it to experience virtual world events in real life. For example, technology can convey a user's sense of participation in an activity from childhood, such as pitching a ball with a parent, by recreating the senses involved in tossing and catching a ball in the world. virtual.