Startup Says Its Tech Can Inflict Actual Pain in the Metaverse

A Japanese startup called H2L Technologies wants you to be able to feel pain inside the metaverse, via a wristband that dishes out small electric shocks. 

“Feeling pain enables us to turn the metaverse world into a real [world], with increased feelings of presence and immersion,” H2L CEO Emi Tamaki told the Financial Times. The Sony-backed startup’s wearable isn’t designed with only inflicting pain in mind. It’s also meant to convey “weight and resistance feeling to users and avatars on the Metaverse,” according to the company.

Thanks to the wristband’s electrical stimulation, it can mimic a range of sensations from catching a ball to a bird pinching the wearer’s skin. Tamaki’s goals are much greater than a simple wristband. She’s hoping to “release humans from any sort of constraint in terms of space, body and time” within the next decade.