Computex highlights: Metaverse box, VR gloves and sensors, charger that backs up files

Jorjin's MetaSpace M1 and M3 act as dedicated spaces for VR and AR activities. — Photos: CHRISTOPHER FAM/The Star

TAIPEI: Jorjin Technologies showcased its integrated virtual reality system, dubbed the MetaSpace M1, which features its own augmented reality (AR) glasses and Finnish manufacturer Varjo's mixed reality (MR) headset.

The MetaSpace M1 is essentially a soundproof booth equipped with everything a user could need for a MR experience, be it entertainment, a virtual workspace, or even a classroom.

This includes a headset and AR glasses, ceiling-mounted MR sensors from Epson, and a projector that can be used for AR meetings or conferences by displaying participants in other locations.

Computex attendees got to try the demo, where they were able to navigate around a room, interact with certain objects using their hands, and draw 3D lines in the virtual world using their hands.

The MetaSpace M3 is an option for larger room-scale applications.

Its bigger brother, the M3, was also set up at the booth, featuring a room-scale experience for applications requiring extra space.

Those keen on bringing this sort of system to their home or workplace will need to reach out to Jorjin to figure out the ideal setup.

The all-in-one system used in Jorjin's MetaSpaces utilises hand-tracking technology to navigate the virtual world, but this requires that the hands be in view of the camera on the headset to work properly.

Over at the Taiwan Alpha and Coolso booths, both companies have come up with two different solutions for camera-free hand tracking.

Coolso proposes the use of accelerometers and gyrometers commonly found in wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers to detect muscle movements in the wrist when performing gestures and transform them into virtual actions.

The wristband shown at Coolso's booth contained standard accelerometers and gyrometers normally found in smartwatches and fitness trackers.

The company says that this could be done with any wristband containing those components and that its solution would work entirely on the software side of things.

Since it's software-based, theoretically it could be put on any existing smartwatch and work on devices running Android, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Mac.

Coolso's booth had a demo where guests could interact with a room by wearing a sample wristband containing the sensors that was connected to a tablet via Bluetooth.

Meanwhile, Taiwan Alpha, a sensor manufacturing firm, showed off its VGlove, which contains a sensor strip in each finger, turning it into a device for capturing hand movements for use in, say, video games and the medical field, as well as the metaverse.

Demos at the booth included a virtual model of a hand that responds to movements made with the glove and a rock-paper-scissors game for two people.

Taiwan Alpha's VGloves contain sensor strips to enable cameraless hand tracking in VR.

Taiwan Alpha also showcased its other sensor technology: an insole that could display the points of pressure within a shoe; pressure pads for industrial use; and a stretchable sensor that could be used to detect the expanding and contracting of muscles or breathing of a patient.

Another booth that stood out at the event was the Sunprotected Technology booth, which showed off a prototype of a laptop and smartphone charger that could also back up users' files.

The MemCatcher Cross has two USB-C ports, one Thunderbolt and the other a standard jack for mobile devices, along with a microSD slot that supports up to 2TB storage, requiring no Internet connection for the backups.

According to the company, whenever a device is plugged into the charger, it will automatically perform a backup of the specific files or folders selected in the software.

It supports up to 60 watts of charging via the Thunderbolt port for laptops and 30 watts of fast charging for smartphones via USB-C. Devices will be charged as the backups happen.

Sunprotected Technology has not announced a release date or pricing for the device.

The Memcatcher Cross can back up your files while it charges your devices.

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