--- title: "Startup Says Its Tech Can Inflict Actual Pain in the Metaverse" description: "A Japanese startup wants you to be able to feel pain inside the metaverse through a wristband that electrically stimulates its wearer's muscles." date: "2022-03-22" modified: "2022-03-22" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/startup-inflict-pain-metaverse" categories: - "Future Society" - "Metaverse" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "metaverse" - "the digest" - "virtual reality" --- # Startup Says Its Tech Can Inflict Actual Pain in the Metaverse ![A Japanese startup wants you to be able to feel pain inside the metaverse through a wristband that electrically stimulates its wearer's muscles.]() *\Image: H2L Technologies\* ## Feel the Pain A Japanese startup called H2L Technologies wants you to be able to feel pain inside the metaverse, via [a wristband]() that dishes out small electric shocks. It's a strange new development that goes to show companies are willing to go far in their quest to blur the lines between reality and the virtual world, the [*Financial Times* reports](). "Feeling pain enables us to turn the metaverse world into a real \[world\], with increased feelings of presence and immersion," H2L CEO Emi Tamaki told *FT*. The Sony-backed startup's wearable isn't designed with only inflicting pain in mind. It's also meant to convey "weight and resistance feeling to users and avatars on the Metaverse," [according to the company](). ## Virtual Travel Thanks to the wristband's electrical stimulation, it can mimic a range of sensations from catching a ball to a bird pinching the wearer's skin. Tamaki's goals are much greater than a simple wristband. She's hoping to "release humans from any sort of constraint in terms of space, body and time" within the next decade. The idea of the haptic wearable reportedly came to her after she had a near-death experience in her late teens due to a congenital heart disease. "I realized life was precious so I decided to work on a new field that I really wanted to dig into, as there was no one doing research at the time," Tamaki told the *FT*. To her, it's a way to connect with the outside world, especially for people like her who "don't have enough muscle due to heart disease." Her dream is to "travel anywhere, anytime" through the technology — even if that experience involves physical pain. **READ MORE:** [Japanese start-up wants to cause real-life pain in the metaverse]() **More on the metaverse:** *[Heineken’s Metaverse Event Was So Awful, Even Tabloids Want Out]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()