Feel like the Human Torch or Firestar, and love all things pyrotechnic? Then you might be interested in what MIT has cooked up – we’re talking about a new way to experience video games and their controllers, relying on heat to up the realism ante. For example, riding through a snowy climate will have the controller’s temperature drop by a few degrees, while being too near a Firebat in Starcraft II (just saying) will see things heat up considerably. This is made possible thanks to a pair of thermoelectric surfaces that are located on either side of a controller, where it will rapidly heat up or cool down in conjunction with the virtual environment. The temperature difference won’t have you tossing the controller out of your hands though, since it ranges less than 10 degrees heating or cooling after five seconds.
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