Open-source wearable haptic feedback systems for spatial audio, VR/AR, and interactive installations
Born as audio-reactive LED wearables, evolved into signal-agnostic haptic feedback
Arduino + Bluetooth for portable systems, or Raspberry Pi + I2C for high-fidelity effects with 120+ haptic patterns
Works seamlessly with Max/MSP, TouchDesigner, Unity, Pure Data, and any OSC-compatible software
Complete PCB designs, Gerber files, 3D-printable enclosures, and Bill of Materials included
15-minute quick start guides, API references, and integration examples for popular platforms
Build an Arduino system for ~$30 or a Raspberry Pi system for ~$150
Used in VR experiences, art installations, research projects, and interactive exhibits
Swap the motors for LEDs → instant wearable light display! Same OSC protocol, different sensory experience. The original prototype was audio-reactive LEDs. 🌈
Hackaday 2020 - "In Pursuit of Haptics for a Better VR Experience"
Hackaday Supercon 2024 - "Turning Talk Into Action"
Direct-to-motor haptic access. Use bhaptics-http to send raw dot patterns and address individual motors through a lightweight HTTP REST bridge — no bHaptics Studio pattern authoring required.
Arduino vs Raspberry Pi comparison guide
15-minute setup for portable systems
15-minute setup for high-fidelity effects
Complete API specification and examples
Step-by-step build instructions
How to order custom PCBs
Installable Python package for direct HTTP REST control of bHaptics hardware and raw motor patterns
Source, API examples, direct-to-motor controls, and development documentation
Perfect for spatial audio feedback, VR/AR navigation, interactive installations, accessibility applications, research projects, gaming, and telepresence.
Started as wearable LEDs that danced to sound. Claps, music, and environmental audio created spatial light patterns around the body.
Same patterns, different sensory modality. Audio-reactive architecture translated from light to touch, creating wearable haptic feedback systems.
Featured on Hackaday as part of pursuing better VR haptic experiences.
Mitacs grant for washable wearables research in mixed reality applications.
KDF Entertainment becomes official York University procurement vendor, enabling direct academic collaboration.
Complete hardware designs, firmware, and software released under permissive licenses. Two production-ready implementations available for makers, researchers, and artists worldwide.
Hackaday's feature on “Turning Talk Into Action” revisits the project lineage from the original haptics work through later builds, papers, exhibitions, and collaborations.
VR ECOLOGY: Interability and Prosthetic XR for Neurodiverse World-Building, presented in the SPARKS “Interabilities in 21st Century Arts & Technology” session.
“VR Ecology: Relational Haptic Co-Creation for Kinaesthetic Creativity”, IEEE VR 2026 Doctoral Consortium / VRW proceedings, pp. 1343–1344.
Vivarium explores layered intelligence in embodied WebXR, while VR Ecology @ IEEE VR 2026 develops relational haptic co-creation, adaptive AI attunement, and trace-memory research tooling.
Published on PyPI with source on GitHub: a lightweight HTTP REST bridge for bHaptics hardware with raw dot-pattern and direct-to-motor control.