Ubisoft and OWO may not want to make you bleed, but the duo is certainly hoping you feel the same punches and stabbings that you make the next protagonist endure. That's because the companies have announced the launch of a limited, Mirage edition of OWO's haptic feedback shirt, a piece of wearable technology that constricts sections of your torso to transmit the feeling of impacts, cuts, and compression forces. The byline? You'd better ensure you're a good caretaker for your in-game character, Basim, or you'll feel exactly how good (or bad) of a player you are.
The haptic feedback Mirage shirt will be part of a limited 100-unit run and builds on OWO's own premium haptic offering, the Founder Limited Edition. That product ships with ten haptic sensation locations (the places where the suit can compress and decompress to simulate contact), 100-ohm high-conductivity electrodes, Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, and an eight-hour rechargeable USB Type-C battery. Depending on the settings, we can't imagine anyone wanting to be inside a walking machine of pain for the duration of its battery, so maybe OWO could have shaved some weight or pulled some additional constricting power from the suit's battery.
But the Mirage edition, being a limited one, brings some additional bells and whistles: according to OWO's page, the device will come bundled with an Assassin's Creed-style lycra shirt (a particularly useful material for all the sweating from playing contact games will generate); 20 gel pads; a storage pouch, and of course, the actual "beat me up" simulator itself and the world to be beat in: the OWO device and a digital copy of Assassin's Creed Mirage.
Luckily, users can customize their individual experiences, feedback intensity (and pain thresholds) through the OWO device and mobile app. Through it, users can make it so that a 50mm bullet feels like the lightest hand-slap in the world. OWO's sensations library (the range of contact that the vest can simulate) includes experiences ranging from wind, stress, and freefall to knife wounds, severe abdominal wounds, and shots... complete with exit wounds...
Uh.
Before you ask: No, it can't play Crysis (the game isn't supported yet), and yes; I checked. But it is compatible with Halo Infinite, Apex Legends, Half-Life: Alyx (VR), CS:GO, and Valorant, among others. Counting the soon-to-be-included Assassin's Creed: Mirage, that's quite a heavy-weight support list already.
Where mirage meets reality… Discover the Assassin’s Creed Mirage haptic system in collaboration with @owogameofficialLearn more: https://t.co/z7zGWfZTQA pic.twitter.com/WZNMNalRx2July 13, 2023
Assassin's Creed Mirage is scheduled for release on October 12, 2023, for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and the Amazon Luna platforms. The game will also be available to all Ubisoft+ subscribers at release.
