Gaming not real enough for ya? Try this

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Computer combat jacket simulates being shot

By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:55pm GMT 11/03/2008

A virtual reality combat jacket that allows computer game players to feel their on-screen characters being shot and punched is to be launched this week.

The 3rd Space vest uses air pressure to deliver pneumatic jolts to players' torsos to simulate sensations experienced by game characters such as recoil from weapons, jolts from jumping and bullet impacts.

Virtual combat jacket
The virtual combat jacket uses air pressure to simulate injury

It is part of a trend for games developers to increasingly use physical touch and movement to make gaming experiences more realistic reflected in the success of the Nintendo Wii, which involves a remote control that transmits a player's movements to a screen.

Dr Mark Ombrellaro, a vascular surgeon from Bellevue, Washington, adapted the jacket from a more sophisticated medical version he created to allow doctors to carry out long distance examinations on patients in prison or in isolated rural communities via the internet.

Dr Ombrellaro said: "This is unlike anything that's been out there before. Everybody is looking for the latest immersive experience, to be really engaged with content.

"Audio and visual graphics are of course excellent mediums, but we have five senses and in computer games we are only really using two of them. Here we are making use of a third sensory dimension.

"It's a way for game designers and players to taking gaming to the next level. It provides a way for reality and virtual reality to interact.

"If you watch people playing with the vest they physically flinch to get away from enemies, and get into the game in a way they have never done before."
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The 3rd Space vest delivers up to 5lbs of force to the torso via eight pneumatic impact cells linked to tiny air pistons - four on the front of the body and four on the back - which inflate at different positions and speed according to the action being simulated in the game. It will go on sale this week for £129 bundled with two games including Call of Duty II.

The jacket is available in black, grey camouflage and pink. At present it is only compatible with certain PC games, such as Unreal Tournament, Halflife 2, Medal of Airborne, Quake 4 and Doom 3, however Dr Ombrellaro is in discussions with the makers of the major games consoles.

Dr Ombrellaro's company TouchNetworks is also planning virtual reality helmets, long-sleeved tops and trousers. He is also working on models that imitate the forces involved in driving and flight simulation games.

Guy Cocker, a journalist on the GameSpot UK website, said: "Games have become more and more realistic in terms of graphics and sound. But gamers will always want more immersive experiences.

"I haven't tried this particular product. Whether it is successful may depend on whether its creators can get the support of major developers so that new games are specifically programmed to make the experience genuinely more realistic."