philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Researchers Turn Up the Horror With a Mask That Simulates Suffocation in Virtual Reality

... The AirRes Mask works in two ways. The first approach, and the one less likely to traumatize users, leverages the mask as a way to monitor their breathing and incorporate it into a VR experience to enhance the feeling of immersion. Applications include simple everyday acts like blowing out a virtual candle, inflating a balloon, or even playing an instrument such as a harmonica using their own breath. The mask can also be used to adapt how the VR experience behaves based on the user’s respiration rate. Hitting the target when firing a virtual arrow from a bow, for example, is made a lot easier when the user holds their breath and steadies themself. ...

The other approach leverages the mask’s ability to add resistance to the wearer’s ability to breathe. Suffocation doesn’t seem like a particularly fun way to escape one’s own reality, but the researchers believe the AirRes Mask could also be used as a more realistic training tool. Firefighters could physically experience the lack of oxygen in a room as a raging fire consumes it, including the simulated side effects of the human body not getting enough oxygen, like the onset of tunnel vision, but without the added risks of a real fire. ...

as horrifying as it seems, it does help further demonstrate the unique potential of VR ...

See the full story here: https://gizmodo.com/vr-mask-suffocation-oculus-quest-2-airres-fire-balloon-1848986217