What Will You Do If Samsung Electrocutes Your Ears?

Virtual Reality headsets, apps, and software have been the talk of the town. Let’s admit it: this might be the most advanced technology right now and everybody wants one. But how far are you willing to go to get the ultimate virtual reality experience?

As absurd as it may seem, Samsung actually thinks that making you feel seasick by electrocuting your inner ears will give you the best virtual reality experience with the Samsung Gear VR. During the SXSW festival in Texas, Samsung’s C-Lab showed off their new project called The Entrim 4D headphones. After knowing what the device does, this left everyone in shock, literally.

The Entrims uses a combination of algorithm and galvanic vestibular stimulation, a process that sends a very low-voltage electric current into a nerve in your inner ear, which they claim to be harmless. This will allow your body to synchronize with the changing movement in the video content.

That electric signal messes with your balance, tricking you into feeling like you’re falling one way, so you move the other to correct. You will not only see virtual reality, but the Entrim 4D will allow you to feel the virtual reality as if you're really there. And according to Samsung newsroom, when the device is paired with the team’s Drone FPV, which utilizes data from the drone’s motion sensors, they can even make you feel like you are flying.

“Virtual reality shouldn’t be experienced only with the eyes,” says Steve Jung, Creative Leader of the project. “With Entrim 4D, we hope that people can experience VR the way it was meant to be—with their whole bodies.”

Unsurprisingly, this technology comes with a price. Samsung had 1,500 people test this product and they claimed that the mental discrepancy of seeing yourself riding a roller coaster or zooming around a race track but not actually experiencing the movement can leave you nauseous, dizzy and can even cause headaches.

As amazing as this device claims to be, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Samsung says that the electrocution is very minimal that you wouldn’t even feel it but I am still not convinced of how safe this product will be. I am not putting my ears at risk just to get the best virtual reality experience, but would you?