World’s First Haptic Rugby Tackle
5G power demonstration from Vodafone powered by TESLASUIT
How it works
The impact of a rugby tackle made by Will Rowlands at the Ricoh stadium in Coventry was transferred via 5G to teammate Juan de Jongh on stage in London. De Jongh, in a specially developed haptic Teslasuit, was able to feel the force of the tackle in realtime thanks to Vodafone’s high speed and super low latency 5G.
- Player tackles a pressure sensitive tackle cylinder containing a 3-axis accelerometer.
- The impact is communicated to a laptop running bespoke software which registers the force as either “hard”, “medium” or “light” tackle.
- The information is sent over Vodafone’s 5G network.
- The information is received by another laptop running the control software for the full body haptic TESLASUIT.
- The suit replicates the impact as a set of pre-coded electrical stimulations of the muscles in the region of a safe impact zone.
De Jongh
Wasps rugby team
I’ve never experienced anything like this. It felt like something from the Matrix. This technology could not only help athletes to train, but to get back into training after injury.
Scott Petty
Chief Technology Officer at Vodafone UK
One of the most exciting is haptic communications technology that allows people to feel sensations remotely. Haptic technology like this will play a huge part in the future from healthcare to gaming.