It was a starry night on the cartoonish virtual-reality farm I was exploring with help from HTC Corp.’s Vive headset. Suddenly a tiny fox emerged from behind the barn and leapt onto my hand. I was surprised by the animal’s realistic appearance—and also by the sensation of its tiny paws as they walked a circle in my palm. In addition to the headset, I wore a bulky black glove from HaptX Inc., a six-year-old startup. Thick wires arched over the fingers and controlled the airflow to more than 100 inflatable pockets embedded in the glove’s mesh lining, which created sensations of touch and even texture on my skin. After a few seconds, the virtual fox leapt out of my hand and paused. I stroked its fur and felt soft strands brushing past my fingertips.

Haptic technology uses force, vibration and motion to simulate the feel of a virtual object. A basic version—responsible for the pulsing feedback found in smartphones, fitness bands and video-game controllers—has been around for years. But adding the sensation of touch to virtual reality has, until recently, been the stuff of science fiction.

Haptics feature heavily in Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One,” in theaters now. The story unfolds in the wake of an energy crisis caused by climate change that has devastated Earth. The characters spend most of their time in the Oasis, a glittering pre-apocalyptic metaverse where virtual-reality visors and haptic gloves allow them to do almost everything except eat and drink.

“Ready Player One” is set in 2045, but some haptic gear—bulkier and less advanced than the Hollywood version—is already on the market.

Experts expect these devices and others in development to influence a variety of industries, from health care to interior design, while boosting demand for the headsets they support.