http://phys.org/news/2015-05-device-sensations-prosthetic.html

 Touch capabilities in AR/VR are the last piece to fall into place, and they’ve been one of the trickiest.  We’ve made our runs at things like force-feedback gloves that vibrate in response to what you see in the world, but broader sensations like hot or cold or texture are still a little ways off.  One of the key components has always been the bulkiness of the equipment, trapping big fat gloves and boots to your hands and feet on top of the VR helmet is just a little too far for many people.

And that’s really one of the sticking points, I feel.  Does your user-base want to cover themselves in sensors in order to get an immersive VR experience?

This technology here, there’s something interesting.  It’s talking (or a high level) about being able to deliver sensations directly to the nervous system.  It’s talking about being able to communicate cold or hot or soft or rough directly, without needing to have a physical, external analog.  Right now it’s an implantable, but it might not have to be in the future, which means our VR has the potential to do away with all the extraneous hardware.