**4.4 Haptic vests and jackets**

Originally designed for medical investigation, Physician Mark Ombrellaro developed a haptic vest that enabled the wearer to feel the impact of bullets, explosions and/or even hand taps in the trunk of the player's body. The 3RD Space Vest is commercialized by TN Games and is advertised as the only gaming peripheral device that allows you to feel what your game character feels. It works with pressured air to provide the player pressure and impact forces that can emulate a wide scope of direction and magnitude (TN Games, 2011).

Others have worked on similar systems, and although they have not focused on the application in games specifically, it is clear how such technologies could also be applied in a game scenario. In the University of Ottawa in Canada, Jongeun Cha and others have worked in a device to enhance teleconferencing. They developed a jacket that enhances communication with the physical and emotional connection by allowing participants give encouraging pats to one another (Cha et al, 2009). Similarly, researchers at the National University of Singapore developed the Huggy Pajama wearable system, where the remote communication between parent and child is enabled through virtual hugs. This is possible by using a doll with embedded pressure sensors as input device and a haptic jacket as the actuator for the hug at the other end. The hug is reproduced by air pockets and the experience is further enhanced by adding a heating element to the device to mimic the warmth of a hug (Teh et al, 2008).
