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Virtual reality haptic “smart suit” uses AI with biometrics to simulate real-world environments

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One of the innovative future technologies that was on display at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2019) in Las Vegas is the Teslasuit, a full body virtual reality haptic suit that delivers real sensations to users that mimic the environment of a digital simulation or game. In a haptic feedback system, stimuli are used to provoke real sensations involving touch – shocks, punches, pushes, bumps, etc. Teslasuit combines this sort of environmental feedback along with climate control, motion capture, and biometric systems to give a fully responsive, immersive experience to the user. Combined with true-to-life virtual reality graphics, this device could finally provide the experience VR was intended to have since its development began.

The full-body sensations of the Teslasuit seem to indicate a new level of experience for virtual reality users, but the haptic capabilities aren’t the only things making it stand out. The suit’s biometric system is designed to use machine learning to analyze heart rate, stress levels, and overall mental and emotional states to create experiences catered to the user. How this capability will be implemented is really up to game developers, though. As data is gathered from biometrics, capabilities will follow. “This is very important for the gaming industry. We see that in the future, when we come to the end user market, that we will be able to offer a lot of data sensing for the developers to process, for the AI itself to adjust the game to the player,” Dimitri Mikhalchuk, co-founder of Teslasuit, explained in an interview with Digital Trends. The suit was first officially unveiled at CES 2018.

Teslasuit uses 68 channels embedded throughout the suit’s fabric to deliver electrical stimulations, and the company is working to expand on that number. Also included in the suit’s software is a haptic library, enabling game developers to create their own effects to correspond with their virtual worlds. The climate control system adjusts the temperature of the suit, heating and cooling in accordance with the virtual environment. Finally, its motion capture and avatar system track motions from the users entire body to interact with virtual environments (and built with multiple players in mind), something that’s more or less an expansion on the core of VR to begin with.

While the Teslasuit brings virtual worlds closer to a potentially action-packed reality, bruises are not part of the experience, according to Mikhalchuk. The electric stimulation is matched to the users own strength, adapting its responses to the input. In other words, the force a user “hits” with in a game is the amount of force used to “hit” back, i.e., electric pulses make the muscles contract within that range.

With the equivalent of a full body shocking device wrapped around players, the question of security arises, yet another thing Teslasuit has addressed in its design. Its software has military grade encryption (AES 256) built into its wireless control system to ensure users’ bodies are not (literally) hacked into. Among its many features, Teslasuit is also completely wireless, boasts a 10+ hour battery life, and is machine washable (important for sweat-inducing virtual scenarios and general funk from frequent wear). A summary of the device on the Teslasuit website reads like something from a science fiction movie:

A highly developed form of computer modeling allows an operator to immerse in the artificial world. The user can act directly in it with the help of special sensory devices that link movements with audio-visual effects. In this case, the user’s visual, auditory, tactile, and motor sensations are replaced by their imitation, generated by a computer system with full body haptic VR suit. At the same time, biometric system of the Teslasuit analyzes human performance and health (workforce and human performance analytics). – Teslasuit.io

The future of augmented reality and virtual reality applications have been explored in fictional storylines over the years with the most recent and directly relevant one being the haptic system imagined in the movie Ready Player One. The Battlestar Galactica prequel series “Caprica” also imagined an immersive virtual world that users could “feel” experiences in (or otherwise do things they wouldn’t/couldn’t in the real world), but that didn’t require a suit, just a mind. In an episode of Netflix’s Black Mirror series called “Playtest”, an American traveler in the UK signs up to demo an immersive VR horror game to earn some money. Unlike the Teslasuit, however, the experience in that episode involved an implant to the user’s neck called a “mushroom” which linked up the VR experience with a user’s brain. The Matrix also suggested an immersive environment, although people weren’t exactly voluntarily involved, if they ever knew it wasn’t real to begin with.

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Other than gaming, Teslasuit is suggestive of several solutions for non-entertainment industries. According to an article on their company website, several VR-training solutions were available for demonstration at CES 2019: Astronaut VR-training in an ISS module, an oil-loading ramp operation VR-simulator, emergency evacuation VR-training, and a powerplant VR training simulator. Teslasuit is currently continuing its outreach and collaboration with game companies to develop content. Its software development kit and corresponding system tools and applications are included with the purchase of the suit which began shipping B2B in the third quarter of 2018.

Watch the below video for a first-hand review of Teslasuit:

Accidental computer geek, fascinated by most history and the multiplanetary future on its way. Quite keen on the democratization of space. | It's pronounced day-sha, but I answer to almost any variation thereof.

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Tesla makes good on its Cybercab promise in just two weeks

Tesla Cybercab riders can now pull up a rear camera view and darken the screen.

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Tesla Cybercab camera visibility for passengers (Credit: Dan Burkland via X)

Tesla has given Cybercab passengers a way to see what is behind them, along with a way to turn the cabin screen off entirely.

Riders in Austin can now bring up a live rearview camera feed on the Cybercab’s center display in the middle of a trip. Austin rider Ethan McKanna spotted the change late Friday night, posting from a ride that “You can now open the camera to view what’s behind you in Cybercab!” His photo shows a strip of rear camera video across the top of the screen, with another Cybercab following on a bridge. Sawyer Merritt shared the image Saturday and wrote that it “sounds like” there is also a new quiet mode that darkens the entire screen for riders who want to relax, sleep, or avoid a bright display at night.

The camera view goes beyond the rear feed. Tesla UI software engineer Evan, who posts as @CarCoder, replied to McKanna with a tip: “You can also tap it to see more cameras, and swipe it up or down to hide and show.” Until now, the Cybercab only showed its rear and repeater feeds on the “Please Exit Safely” screen at the end of a ride, so passengers could check for cyclists and traffic before opening a door.


Quiet mode surfaced a day earlier. Austin rider Jackson Blatz posted a video Friday morning of the new Robotaxi interface in a Cybercab with the option. Tesla has not published release notes for either feature.

The rear camera view moved quickly from request to release. Earlier this month, Cybercab rider Dan Burkland asked Tesla to let passengers pull up the rear and repeater cameras whenever they want, “especially for peace of mind.” Evan answered “In development,” as Teslarati reported at the time. About two weeks later, riders have it.

The feature fills a gap created by the Cybercab’s design. With no steering wheel, no pedals, no mirrors and no rear window, a passenger has no natural way to glance behind the car. The eight exterior cameras that feed Tesla’s autonomy software were already on board, so the change only required software.

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There is also an AI angle to how it was built. Yun-Ta Tsai, a senior staff engineer on Tesla’s AI team, quoted Merritt’s post and wrote that the “(human) camera view tuning is optimized with Grok and implements part of the algorithm by directly programming the fixed-function hardware, so I don’t even need to check the datasheet.” Tsai did not say which part of the algorithm Grok handled. Grok already plays a bigger role inside the vehicle, with Grok Bot now enabled across every Cybercab and the Model Y Robotaxi fleet after Tesla brought the agent into its cars in September.

The two features join a busy week of changes for riders in Austin, which also brought a redesigned Live Activity for iPhone and Apple Watch and live trip sharing. They also arrive as Tesla prepares the Cybercab for life outside its own fleet. On the third quarter earnings call, Lars Moravy said the company is aiming to deliver Cybercabs to customers before the end of 2026. Tesla has not said whether the camera view and quiet mode will also come to its Model Y Robotaxis.

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Tesla shows what Roadster drivers will see on screen before thruster activation

Tesla’s Roadster video reveals a fighter jet inspired cockpit with a 5,500 PSI thruster gauge.

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The next generation Tesla Roadster’s touchscreen, shown in Tesla’s first official look at the car’s interface. (Credit: Tesla/X)

Tesla has given future owners their clearest look yet at the cockpit of its next generation Roadster. In a 34 second video posted to X on Friday afternoon, the company walked through the car’s touchscreen with a caption: “Inspired by fighter jet cockpits, Roadster’s interface was designed around the pilot.”

The clip opens on a black screen with red graphics and a 3D wireframe of the car, which sits beside the Roadster’s squared off yoke. Tapping parts of the model brings up controls for the rear wing, including low drag and high downforce positions, along with a charging page with a charge limit bar and a small music player. A row of tabs along the bottom reads Home, Vehicle, Listen, Climate and Navigate.

Most of the video is spent in Track Mode. The dashboard shows a live circuit map, a list of session lap times, brake and motor temperatures, and pressure and temperature readouts for each tire. A setup page lets the driver pick Auto, Low Drag, High Downforce or Custom aero modes, adjust aero balance and brake balance, and switch stability and traction control off. Along the bottom, a status bar reads “Thruster · 5,500 PSI” next to a “Boost Ready” indicator.

That gauge ties the software to the hardware Tesla showed off near Waco, Texas on October 15. The Thrust and Rocket versions use cold gas thrusters fed by carbon overwrapped pressure vessels, and Tesla lists 0 to 60 mph times of under 0.9 seconds and under 0.59 seconds for them, as Teslarati detailed in its breakdown of the three Roadster configurations. The base Performance car relies on a fan and ground sealing system for grip, and the aero settings on screen match the active wings and suction setup covered in our look at how the Roadster generates downforce.

The Roadster layout is a departure from the rest of Tesla’s lineup. Instead of a map centered screen, the Roadster puts the car itself at the center of the home page, and Tesla’s Roadster page lists two smaller forward displays alongside the main touchscreen. Tesla has not said whether any of the Track Mode telemetry will make its way to the Model 3 Performance or other vehicles.

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The interface could still change before deliveries. Elon Musk said at the event that Roadster production will begin in 2028, and Tesla says the flagship Rocket version is not approved for public road use. Reservations are open with a $50,000 payment, while Thrust is listed as a limited release and Rocket is invite only.

Those who want to see the car in person will get their first chance this weekend. The Roadster goes on display in the lobby of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles from October 24 to 27, according to Sawyer Merritt, the first time the public will be able to view it up close.

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Tesla reveals Optimus Academy, where robots teach themselves

Tesla has begun building production quality Optimus robots in Fremont and revealed its training plan.

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Concept rendering of Tesla Optimus in mass production

Tesla has started building Optimus on the high volume line it set up inside its Fremont factory, and the company says the robots coming off it are the first that meet the bar for a real product. “The bots coming off this line are the first production-quality bots that we have manufactured,” Tesla wrote in its third quarter shareholder letter, adding that it has “proven that the current manufacturing process for Optimus is suitable for a commercial product.”

The line sits in space that built the Model S and Model X until this spring. Tesla cleared the old vehicle line in 46 days, as Teslarati reported in July, to make room for robot production sized for one million units a year. On Wednesday’s earnings call, Elon Musk said most of the equipment for that capacity is already in Fremont, with output set to climb toward roughly 20,000 robots a week as the line ramps.

Musk described the ramp as a classic S curve. “The growth of Optimus is an S curve, but the initial curve is a shallow slope,” he said. The team is now refining the robot’s AI, electromechanical design, reliability and service life, and Musk expects that work to be finished by the end of next year, when Tesla plans to start delivering Optimus to outside companies for dangerous, repetitive and around the clock jobs.

The most interesting part of the call was how Tesla plans to teach the robots. Its cars send real driving data back to the AI team from millions of vehicles, but Optimus has no fleet like that yet. “A big difference with Optimus versus the cars is we don’t have this vast fleet of cars from which we can gather training data,” Musk said. Tesla’s answer is an Optimus Academy, where 10,000 to 20,000 robots will practice a wide range of tasks and feed what they learn into the next version of the model. Every unit off the Fremont line becomes a source of that training data.

Smarter hardware is on the way too. Tesla plans to put its AI5 chip into Optimus next year, and Musk said a new Optimus video should arrive within one or two months showing the robot completing tasks driven by AI rather than preprogrammed motions. He took aim at rival humanoid demos that only run scripted routines, saying those would not hold up in the real world.

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The supply chain is lining up behind the program. In September, Tesla certified Tuopu, Joyson and Sanhua as mass production partners for Optimus components. A far larger Optimus factory is also rising at Giga Texas, where drone footage from Joe Tegtmeyer showed the steel frame nearing completion, and Musk has pegged that plant’s long term target at 10 million robots a year.

Tesla executives also said Optimus production costs are trending toward the expected manufacturing cost of Cybercab, a sign the robot is being engineered for volume from the start. The hands remain the toughest piece of the design, a point Musk also made at the X Takeover event earlier this month, as Teslarati covered at the time, and that is where much of the current engineering effort is focused.

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