Long before the Meta Quest, there was the Aura Interactor, a VR backpack of sorts released in 1994. Priced at $100 ($212.24 in 2024), this wearable force-feedback system was developed by Aura Systems and compatible with both the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and SEGA Genesis.
If the Aura Interactor looks familiar, that’s because Acclaim actually placed Interactor cards into Mortal Kombat II game boxes while also programming special audio cues into the actual game code that would trigger responses from the wearable device. Despite its relatively high price tag, Aura Interactor still managed to sell 400,000 units and received an “Innovation 94” Design and Engineering Award from the Electronics Industry Association.
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You wear it like a backpack, and the built-in speaker vibrates to the sounds of the game. Want to feel more? Simply adjust the amount of vibration. Installation on the first-generation SEGA Genesis is as simple as plugging it into the headphone jack up front. There’s not much information about why it was eventually discontinued, but the device seemed to sell well in to the early 2000s.
