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The Revelation I Got From Experiencing HaptX Is Wild

I tested gloves and buzzing things in Las Vegas to see where the future points.

I put my hands out flat and loaded them into a pair of gloves loaded with joints, cables, pumps and tightening straps. All of this was connected to a backpack-size box that helped pump pressure around my fingers and create sensations of touching things. I was about to play Jenga in VR using an $80,000 pair of haptic gloves made by HaptX.

The future of the metaverse, or how we’ll dip into virtual worlds, seems to involve VR and AR, sometimes. If it does, it’ll also mean solving what we do with our hands. While companies like Meta are already researching ways that neural input bands and haptic gloves could replace controllers, none of that is coming for years. In the meantime, is there anything better than the VR game controllers already out there or basic camera-based hand tracking? I’ve tried a couple of haptic gloves before, but I was ready to try more.

I poked around CES 2023 in Las Vegas to get some experiences with devices I hadn’t tried before, and it suddenly hit me that there’s already a spectrum of options. Each of them was a little revelation.

High end: Massive power gloves

HaptX has been recognized for years as one of the best haptic gloves products on the market, but I’d never had a chance to experience them. The hardware is highly specialized and also extremely large and expensive. I wish I’d gotten a chance to see them at the last CES I attended before this, in 2020. Finally, in 2023, I got a chance.

The gloves use microfluidics, pumping air into small bladders that create touch sensations in 133 zones per hand across the fingers and palm. At the same time, cables on the backs of the fingers pull back to simulate up to 8 pounds of force feedback. Used with apps that support them, you can reach out, grab things and actually feel them.

I’ve tried lower-cost haptic gloves at home that didn’t have the air bladders but did have cables to apply resistance. The HaptX gloves are a big step forward and the most eerily realistic ones I’ve ever tried. I wouldn’t say everything «felt real,» but the poking finger-feelings I had in my fingers and palms let me feel shapes of things, while the resistance gave me a sense of grabbing and holding stuff.

The most amazing moments were when I placed objects on my palm and seemed to feel their weight. Also, when another person’s finger virtually touched mine. Another journalist was in another VR headset with haptic gloves playing Jenga next to me. We never made contact, but occasionally we shook hands virtually or gave high-fives. Our fingers touching felt… well, oddly real, like sensing someone’s finger touching your glove.

HaptX is making another pair of smaller, more mobile gloves later this year that cost less (about $5,000) while still promising the same level of feedback, plus tactile vibrations like the haptic buzzes you might feel with game controllers. I didn’t get to demo that, but I can’t wait.

While HaptX’s tech is wild, it’s meant for industrial purposes and simulations. It represents actual reality, but it’s so massive that it wouldn’t let me do anything else other than live in its simulated world. For instance, how would I type or pull out my phone? Still, I’ll dream of interfaces that let me feel as immersed as these gloves can accomplish.

Budget gloves: bHaptics’ TactGloves

At $300, bHaptics‘ yellow haptic gloves are far, far less expensive than HaptX. They’re also completely different. Instead of creating pressure or resistance, all they really do is have various zones inside that electrically buzz, like your phone, watch or game controller, to sync up with moments when your fingers in VR would virtually touch something. Strangely, it’s very effective. In a few demos I tried, pushing buttons and touching objects provided enough feedback to feel like I was really «clicking» a thing. Another demo, which had me hug a virtual avatar mirroring my movements or shake hands, gave enough contact to fool me into feeling I was touching them.

bHaptics also makes a haptic vest I tried called the TactSuit that vibrates with feedback with supported games and apps. There aren’t many apps that work ideally with haptic gloves right now, because no one’s using haptic gloves. But bHaptics’ support of the standalone Meta Quest 2, and its wireless Bluetooth pairing, means they’re actually portable… even if they look like giant janitorial cleaning gloves. The tradeoff with being so small and wireless is their range is short. I had to keep the gloves within about two feet of the headset, otherwise they’d lose connection.

The buzzing feedback didn’t prove to me that I could absolutely reach into other worlds, but they offered enough sensation to make hand tracking feel more precise, Instead of wondering whether my hand gestures had actually contacted a virtual object, I could get a buzzing confirmation. The whole experience reminded me of some sort of game controller feedback I could wear on my fingers, in a good way.

No gloves at all: Ultraleap’s Ultrasonics

Ultraleap, a company that’s specialized in hand tracking for years, has a different approach to haptics: sensations you can feel in the air. I waved my hand above a large rectangular panel and felt ripples and buzzes beneath my fingers. The feelings are created with ultrasonic waves, high-powered sound bursts that move air almost like super-precise fans against your fingers. I tried Ultraleap’s tech back in 2020, but trying the latest and more compact arrays this year made me think about a whole new use case. It was easy to make this logic leap, since Ultraleap’s booth also demonstrated hand tracking (without haptic feedback) on Pico Neo 3 and Lynx R1 VR and mixed reality headsets.

What if… this air vibration could be used for headsets? Ultraleap is already dreaming and planning for this solution, but right now ultrasonic tech is too power hungry, and the panels too large, for headgear. The tech is mainly being used in car interface concepts, where the hand gestures and feedback could make adjusting car controls while driving easier to use and less dangerous or awkward. The range of the sensations, at least several feet, seem ideal for the arm length and radius of most existing camera-based hand-tracking tech being used right now on devices like the Meta Quest 2.

I tried a demo where I adjusted a virtual volume slider by pinching and raising the volume up and down, while feeling discrete clicks to let me know I was doing something. I could feel a virtual «bar» in the air that I could feel and perhaps even move. The rippling, subtle buzzes are far more faint than those on haptic gloves or game controllers (or your smartwatch), but they could be just enough to give that extra sense that a virtual button press, for instance, actually succeeded…or that a gesture to turn something on or off was registered.

If these interfaces move to VR and AR, Ultreleap’s representatives said they’d likely end up in larger installations first: maybe theme park rides. Ultraleap’s tech is already in experiences like the hands-free Ninjago ride at Legoland, which I’ve tried with my kids. The 3D hand-tracking ride lets me throw stars at enemies, but sometimes I’m not sure my gestures were registered. What if buzzing let me know I was making successful hits?

Haptics are likely to come from stuff we already wear

Of course, I skipped the most obvious step for AR and VR haptic feedback: smartwatches and rings. We wear buzzing things on our wrists already. Apple’s future VR/AR device might work with the Apple Watch this way, and Meta, Google, Samsung, Qualcomm and others could follow a similar path with dovetailing products. I didn’t come across any wearable watch or ring VR/AR haptics at CES 2023 (unless I missed them). But I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re coming soon. If AR and VR are ever going to get small enough to wear more often, we’re going to need controls that are far smaller than game controllers… and ways to make gesture inputs feel far less weird. Believe the buzz: Haptics is better than you think.

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Technologies

Pope Francis’ Funeral: How to Stream Live or Watch the Replay

Here’s how to stream the pope’s funeral very early Saturday, and what you can expect to see during the service.

After a week of global mourning for Pope Francis, who died on Monday at age 88, the pope’s funeral will be celebrated on Saturday . Francis’ funeral will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. local time at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City (which is very, very early if you’re tuning in from the US or Canada), and he will be laid to rest at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. 

The Vatican will be livestreaming the papal funeral and procession, though not the burial, on its YouTube channel as it happens. The funeral will also be televised live on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, as well as on streaming services like Disney Plus, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount Plus. Due to the time difference, it seems likely that many interested North American viewers will catch it when it’s replayed later on Saturday. Numerous networks will rebroadcast the service later that day.

If you choose to stay up, or get up early, here’s when the live broadcast of the pope’s funeral will air in your time zone in the continental US on April 26:

  • ET: 4 a.m.
  • CT: 3 a.m.
  • MT: 2 a.m.
  • PT: 1 a.m.

The papacy of Pope Francis was notable for the progressive reforms he brought to the Roman Catholic Church. He appointed more than half of the current College of Cardinals and attempted to foster more positive attitudes toward members of the LGBT community and migrants worldwide.

What to expect from the funeral 

The funeral will follow many rituals, though not all traditional protocols will be followed. Most popes are buried in St. Peter’s Basilica or its grottoes, but the AP reports Francis chose the St. Mary Major Basilica to reflect his veneration of an icon of the Virgin Mary that is located there, the Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the People of Rome).

His funeral will be less elaborate than those of other popes per his own wishes. Francis simplified papal funeral rites last year, permitting his burial outside the Vatican, and emphasizing his role as a bishop rather than as pope (the pope is also the Bishop of Rome).

Previous popes were buried in three coffins: one of cypress, one of lead and one of oak. Francis requested to be buried in a single wooden, zinc-lined coffin and not to be placed in an elevated bier as other popes were.

The coffin will be taken from St Peter’s Basilica and placed on a dais in St Peter’s Square, where Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re will lead the service. After the service, the coffin will return to St Peter’s Basilica before it is carried across the River Tiber and to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major for burial. The ceremony is estimated to end around 2 p.m. local time, or four hours after it begins.

Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will be the first of nine Masses held daily at St. Peter’s until May 4. This is an ancient tradition of the Catholic Church that observes nine days of consecutive mourning. According to Vatican News, a different group of mourners will participate each day, though the Eucharistic celebrations are open to everyone.

Who will attend Pope Francis’ funeral?

Hundreds of people, including world leaders and royals, are expected to attend Pope Francis’ funeral. 

US president Donald Trump confirmed on his Truth Social Platform that he and first lady Melania Trump will be at the funeral. This will be Trump’s first foreign trip in his second term. He is expected to have a seat in the third row, though the Vatican has yet to release an official seating chart. It is tradition for the first row of seats to go to Catholic royalty, and the second row to non-Catholic royals.

Prince William, who is attending on behalf of King Charles, will sit in the second row, which is reserved for non-Catholic royals. Former president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, devout Catholics, will also attend the funeral.

Conclave: What happens next to choose the new pope

After Pope Francis’ funeral, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will vote on his successor in an assembly of cardinals known as a conclave.

There are many matters for the cardinals to settle before the conclave begins, but once it does, it can take days or even weeks to conclude. Two-thirds of the cardinals’ votes are required to elect the next pope. The conclave occurs behind closed doors and the vote tally is never made public.

Read more: Where to Watch Conclave, the Vatican Thriller About Electing a New Pope

Look for the white smoke

The ballots are burned after each round, and chemicals are added to the flames to produce black smoke if there’s no majority. When a new pope has been selected, the chemicals will be added to the flames so they produce white smoke. Crowds gather in St. Peter’s Square to watch for the results.

If you’re fascinated by the process, you can watch a dramatized version of the events in 2024 film Conclave.

In the movie, Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, who spearheads the election of the next pope while investigating rumors about potential candidates. The film is based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris and is completely fictional — though it does represent some of the events of how actual papal conclaves take place. In March, the film won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.

You can stream Conclave on Amazon Prime Video, or rent it for $6 on Apple TV, Fandango at Home, YouTube or Google Play Movies.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 26, #685

Hints and answers for Connections for April 26, #685.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle features a lot of short words, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. That purple category requires a lot of thinking — probably most people will solve it only by solving the other three and having four words left over. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Rainbow.

Green group hint: San Fernando ____.

Blue group hint: Think Robert.

Purple group hint: Mixed-up hue words.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Tint.

Green group: Valley.

Blue group: Bobs.

Purple group: Color anagrams.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is tint. The four answers are color, hue, shade and tone.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is valley. The four answers are dale, dell, glen and hollow.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Bobs. The four answers are Dole, Hope, Marley and Ross.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is color anagrams. The four answers are Dre (red), Gary (gray), genre (green) and lube (blue).

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 26, #215

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 215, for Saturday, April 26.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Connections: Sports Edition is tough today. The purple category theme threw me because of one phrase I didn’t know. And let’s hope you’re familiar with college coach surnames. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.  

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Try to achieve.

Green group hint: Move through it.

Blue group hint: Sideline bosses.

Purple group hint: Like a carton.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: What one strives for.

Green group: Room to run.

Blue group: College football coaches.

Purple group: Box ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is what one strives for. The four answers are aim, goal, objective and target.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is room to run. The four answers are gap, hole, opening and space.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is college football coaches. The four answers are Day, Lanning, Smart and Stoops.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is box ____. The four answers are lacrosse, office, score and seat.

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