Samsung's Entrim 4D Headset Lets You 'Move' in Virtual Reality

At the South by South West (SXSW) festival taking place in Austin, Texas right now, Samsung just unveiled a new piece of concept hardware that could have a major impact on virtual reality. Called the Entrim 4D headphones, this headset is designed to be worn while wearing a Gear VR, and it uses electrical impulses to create an actual sense of motion, so you don't just see the ground whizzing past as you fly overhead; you actually feel the sensation of movement.

In our review of the Samsung Gear VR, we called it the best mobile VR headset on the market, but that's a pretty low bar right now. One of the biggest things that keeps you from having a sense of presence with headsets such as the Gear VR is that you don't have the same freedom to move around as there is no depth tracking in the headset. That is something that might come in the future to mobile devices, but for now, there's a definite barrier to the sense of complete immersion.

However, Samsung's new headset could alter this by tricking the part of the ear that regulates your balance and sense of motion, to make you feel like you're really there. It uses a technology called Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) which basically means that it sends very small electric signals directly into the nerves of your ear. This technology is typically used to help restore balance in stroke patients, but it can also be used to create a sense of movement.

"Virtual reality shouldn't be experienced only with the eyes," says Steve Jung, Creative Leader of the project. "With Entrim 4D, we hope that people can experience VR the way it was meant to be - with their whole bodies."

What this means is that the next time you play Temple Run VR, you will still not be able to duck under an obstacle without pressing a button, but you will feel the wind whipping by as your character races headfirst away from the chasing monsters.

Another benefit that Entrim 4D could have is that it could eliminate the motion sickness some people are prone to in VR. What happens for some people is that when your eyes are telling you that you're moving forward, or that the ground is tilted in a particular direction, but your body's vestibular system tells you that you're standing still, the mismatch makes some people nauseous. It's possible that Entrim 4D could be a solution to this problem as well.

Samsung also talked about another interesting potential use for the system - first person drone flight. When paired with a drone's first person view, you can even fly through the real world, and in theory, the system should trick your brain into thinking you're really flying, deepening the sense of immersion.

The idea is a little bit like VR arcades, which use mechanised chairs to simulate the shake and rattle of a car, or a roller coaster, to make the experiences feel much more real. It's possible that Samsung's Entrim 4D could recreate this experience in the comfort of your own home.