Anyone who’s seen Steven Spielberg’s film Ready Player One (2018) will remember how the main character puts on a tightly fitting costume which, when he passes through the virtual universe of Oasis, allows him to feel both the caresses of the girl of his dreams and the blows of the villains. This is similar to the technology of OWO, a start-up from Malaga which has developed and patented a second skin which allows you to realistically feel the sensations created in virtual worlds.
In the experience that you can have at the Mobile World Capital Barcelona, visitors put on sleeves which remotely transport them to one of the most emblematic moments of Barcelona’s recent history: the impressive opening ceremony of the 1992 Olympic Games in the Estadi Lluís Companys.
In the experience, when the user puts the glasses and sleeves on, after a slight calibration, they light a crucible and take a bow to fire an arrow like the archer Antonio Rebollo did on that special night.
As the bow becomes taut, the OWO sleeve allows you to gradually feel the progressive tightening of the string, until the arrow is fired. To add to this magical moment, when the Olympic cauldron is lit, you hear the song Barcelona performed by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé.
The company’s main products include a jacket and sleeve for the forearm, the latter being used for the experience at the MWC. In both cases they have received awards for innovation at the last two editions of the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
OWO’s devices are based on an algorithm which modifies nine different parameters of electrical pulses which, depending on the combination of their values, can provide up to 30 different sensations, from the wind on the skin to everything that is felt on being shot. The experience at the MWC will be much more satisfying. Who didn’t want to feel like Rebollo at Montjuïc?
