Leading US haptic gloves provider HaptX announced on Wednesday it had inked an exclusive partnership with French tech firm Haption, a manufacturer of top-spec force feedback devices.
The new partnership will aim to enable unprecedented levels of full-body immersion for workers in training, robotics, and industrial design, and will allow Haption to discontinue production of its HGlove haptic gloves to work solely on marketing HaptX gloves to their client base.
The Redmond, Washington-based firm offers the world’s only true-contact haptic gloves with over 130 points of feedback and 40 pounds of force feedback per hand.
Conversely, Haption’s Virtuose 6D haptic system has created the world’s only enterprise-level, full-body force feedback devices to deliver six degrees-of-freedom along with up to 15 pounds of force response.
The company, based in Soulgé-sur-Ouette, France, developed the Virtuose 6D solution to add stiffness of up to 70 pounds per inch, surpassing rival devices over several times.
Jake Rubin, Chief Executive and Founder of HaptX, said his company had invested “nearly a decade of research and development (R&D) to design its products”, adding,
“We’re excited to leverage Haption’s commercially proven Virtuose platform to help bring our transformative technology from lab to marketplace”
Jérôme Perret, Haption’s Chief Executive, explained his tech firm had been developing advanced force feedback solutions “for over 20 years,” adding,
“We’re thrilled to combine our best-in-class force feedback with HaptX’s unique true-contact haptics to deliver a new level of fidelity and immersion for our customers’ mission-critical applications”
For more information and updates on company products, please visit haptx.com and haption.com.
HaptX Expands as Rivals Launch Solutions
The news comes after the venture-backed US firm began delivering its Gloves DK2 haptic feedback gloves following a Series A fundraiser with investors, which earned $12 million for the company to fund R&D, build a new headquarters, and expand its workforces, XR Today reported in July.
Dutch rival firm SenseGlove also opened shipments of its Nova force feedback gloves in late October, which respond with force and ‘vibrotactile’ feedback to simulate tactile responses to virtual content.
SenseGlove’s Nova solution sells for $5,000 USD and is compatible with Oculus Quest, Pico Neo, and HTC VIVE head-mounted displays.
