Woojer’s New Haptic Feedback Vest Made Me Feel The Games I Play
The Woojer Vest 3 is here and I was fortunate enough to take one for a spin around the block. Not entirely impressed with the concept of a ‘haptic feedback vest’, I was willing to give one a try and see if I could be converted by this luxurious technology.
It might be extremely expensive and rather cumbersome-looking at first blush, but the Woojer Vest 3 is a remarkable piece of technology that allows you to feel the games you play – and the media you consume – like never before. Is it a bit too fancy to win over the average gamer, though?
High Price, Heavy Vest
You’d be surprised to learn that the Woojer Vest 3 will run you up a bill of almost $500 if you choose to invest. This next-generation haptic vest screams high-quality production value, but it’s an eye-watering sum to part ways with for ‘an experiment’, so I’m thankful to Woojer for providing me with a review sample.
From the moment I pulled apart the box, I knew that I was in for a treat. The Woojer Vest 3 screams ‘premium accessory’, from the packaging to the parts, and the materials used to construct the vest to the companion app. I’ll admit I had some teething issues getting the app paired with the vest, but they were my fault and Woojer was instrumental in getting me online as soon as possible.
Wearing the Woojer feels weird at first. It’s not a light thing, nor is it too slimline, and you’ll absolutely notice that you’ve got it on. The Woojer Vest 3 is almost built to be paired with a Meta Quest headset for the ultimate sense of gaming immersion, and that’s the feeling I got when I used it – but I also came away sweating after a moderate session.
It’s one of the most adjustable things I’ve ever worn, and as a bigger gamer, I was pleased to see the Woojer Vest 3 accommodated my frame. It’s marketed as ‘one size fits most’, so I shouldn’t have been surprised.
It didn’t take long to get to grips with it, and I was able to try it out across a range of functions, pairing it with audio sources for music, my Meta Quest 3 headset, and my gaming PC. On every occasion, I came away pleased with what the Woojer Vest 3 had shown me.
But What Does The Woojer Vest 3 Do?
As it says on the tin, the Woojer Vest 3 is a haptic feedback device. That means it allows you to feel your game, music, or movie by providing tangible feedback across a range of ‘transducers’ when they detect an appropriate input.
It relies on an audio level and range, so the deeper and louder a sound, the more impact you’ll feel through the transducers located on your chest, back, and abdomen. Admittedly, I thought it would be super accurate, and that firing a rifle would allow me to feel a punch in my shoulder, but it’s not that specific.
I charged around on Black Ops 6 while wearing the Woojer Vest 3, though – and it was a blast. On Nuketown, the cacophony of explosions, gunfire, and other sound effects made for a unique sensation across my body. For a laugh, I cranked the feedback volume to the maximum level and the vest drilled me and left my skin buzzing.
It’s a versatile device that works with basically any input, but it can be a little fiddly when it comes to using cables. For instance, I had to run a cable from my PC into the vest, and then I plugged a wired headset into the vest’s control panel to accommodate an audio passthrough – but there are less cumbersome ways to make it work.
In terms of technical specs, the Woojer Vest 3 is equipped with six newly designed oscillators that offer ‘360-degree perceptual inference’. It can be tweaked with a handy app, and it supports Bluetooth and a range of wired inputs (USB-C, 3.5mm, etc). One charge can last up to eight hours, and it uses a unique charging solution to ramp that battery level up as quickly as possible.
Ultimately, the Woojer Vest 3 is an innovative and intriguing device, but as it’s both drastically expensive and quite a chore to wear, I’ll be honest and say it doesn’t have much of a place in the market at the moment. It’s too niche a piece of technology for the average gamer to buy, and even enthusiasts might find it a bit gimmicky.
It felt great wearing it for a while and the reliability of the haptics blew my mind when I first tried it out, but taking it on and off for each session became tiresome, and in the summertime, I could see the Woojer Vest 3 being stuffed in a cupboard out of fear of overheating.
If you’ve got $500 burning a hole in your pocket and want to try something new, then maybe invest. Otherwise, keep a hold on your money.
For more Insider Gaming tech coverage, check out our review of the OXS Thunder Pro+ gaming soundbar
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