Ethereal Matter MEK · via Studio Alloy

The full embedded stack behind a full-body VR haptics platform

Designed the complete embedded electrical stack for the MEK - a full-body robotic haptics platform for VR with force-feedback armatures and foot platforms - delivering three custom PCB families and writing all of their firmware.

Role

Electrical + Firmware Lead

Applied

Custom PCBBLELoad CellFirmwareC++RoboticsEmbedded Systems

Ethereal Matter MEK - product render showing full platform unit, white frame with force-feedback armature mechanism and seating position, person silhouette inside — FIG 01The MEK full-body VR haptics platform - the complete unit with force-feedback armature installed inside the enclosure.

My contribution

Designed the complete embedded electrical stack for a full-body robotic VR haptics platform.
Delivered three custom PCB families: low-power BLE hand controllers; armature control boards integrating load-cell sensing and lighting control with a BLE receiver; and foot-platform motion control boards.
Wrote all embedded firmware across all three board families.

Objective

The MEK delivers full-body haptics for VR - force-feedback armatures the user wears and foot platforms they stand on. Making that work means a coordinated set of embedded boards: low power and wireless at the hands, force-aware and lit at the armatures, and motion-controlled at the feet. I designed the whole electrical and firmware stack.

Ethereal Matter MEK physical unit - white frame enclosure with force-feedback armature mechanism visible inside, Ethereal branding on side panel — FIG 02The physical MEK unit - force-feedback armature mechanism visible inside the enclosure. The blue board visible on the armature is one of the custom control PCBs.

Ethereal Matter MEK in use - person wearing VR headset interacting with the lit force-feedback armature inside the full platform unit — FIG 03The MEK in use - person in VR interacting with the lit force-feedback armature, with the foot platform underfoot.

Ethereal Matter MEK armature close-up - lit force-feedback arm with a hand interacting with the end effector — FIG 04Armature close-up - the lit force-feedback end effector with a hand interacting with it.

Technical details

Three board families divide the system. The hand controllers are low-power and communicate over BLE. The armature boards integrate load-cell sensing for force feedback together with lighting control and a BLE receiver. The foot-platform boards handle motion control underfoot. A single firmware effort spans all three, keeping the hands, armatures, and feet coordinated.