KissMe: Bringing virtual events to the real world

Several researchers have successfully developed realistic models for real world objects/phenomenon and have simulated them in the virtual world. In this paper, we propose the opposite: brining virtual world events and instantiate them in the real world. The proposed system, named KissMe, comprises two components: (1) a virtual reality environment that has avatars that represent real humans interacting with each other, and (2) a neck piece (tactile haptic device) that is put on the neck of the real person. When one of the avatars kisses the other, an event is triggered and a message is sent over the Internet, via web service paradigm, to a Bluetooth-enabled neck piece hardware. The neck piece applies the haptic stimulus that simulates the kiss feeling using actuators that are embedded in a scarf-like suit. Examples of potential applications for the KissMe prototype include 3D gaming and virtual reality social communities such as second life, among others.