HaptX Secures $12 Million Funding Towards Advancement Of VR Gloves
HaptX announces a new partnership with Advanced Input Systems.
HaptX, the company bringing realistic haptic technology to VR, has announced a new partnership with Advanced Input Systems along with an impressive Series A financing round of $12 million. This huge investment will fund the production and evolution of the next generation of HaptX Gloves, which can be used within the fields of VR and robotics in numerous ways.
In recent years, HaptX has brought a lot of innovation to the VR sector with its proprietary VR gloves that allow you to “feel” objects remotely in VR. This kind of technology has the potential to greatly impact how we work and connect with people all over the world. The gloves are also changing how surgeons prepare for life-saving surgery with applications such as FundamentalVR’s Surgeon Simulator.
“We’ve had dozens of world-class companies successfully pilot our HaptXGloves Development Kit,” said Jake Rubin, Founder and CEO of HaptX in an official press release, adding, “With this foundational strategic partnership and fresh capital, we’re well-positioned to scale up production to meet rapidly growing demand.”
This partnership is a critical move for both companies that no doubt have a significant impact on haptic VR experiences moving forward. Advanced Input Systems is a leader in innovative Human-Machine Interface (HMI) products that they hope will one day enable intuitive Human-Machine experiences in the medical, industrial, commercial, military, and gaming sectors.
Bringing these two technologies together will yield positive results for the VR industry, including product development, manufacturing, and go-to-market collaboration. Eric Ballew, President of Advanced Input Systems, said “The ability of the HaptX solution to provide realistic touch feedback in wearable haptic devices bridges this gap, accelerating the adoption of VR products in enterprise applications.”
As VR continues to find its footing in so many different industries and in homes all around the world, HaptX continues to stay ahead of the curve. Enterprise customers using HaptX Gloves are finding uses in areas such as VR design, training, robotics, education, and many more as they continue to experiment with the groundbreaking technology.
We could even see HaptX gloves someday being part of entertainment, social VR and AR, and even online dating. Holding hands on a VR date in Rec Room, or cozying up with a special someone while watching a movie together in Bigscreen could become a possibility!
Earlier this year, HaptX announced a groundbreaking collaboration with Nissan that brought physical touch to the automaker’s virtual vehicle prototypes, while Fundamental Surgery integrated HaptX Gloves into their VR medical training platform. On top of that, HaptX unveiled a first-of-its-kind haptic telerobot developed with All Nippon Airways, Tangible Research, and Shadow Robot Company, and in a widely publicized demo, Jeff Bezos described the HaptX system as “really impressive” and remarked that “the tactile feedback is tremendous.”
The partnership between the two companies dedicates $12 million towards the evolution of HaptX gloves. An additional $7 million was also raised through the participation from existing investors Net Ease and Amit Kapur of Dawn Patrol Ventures. Combined with new investors Mason Avenue Investments, Taylor Frigon Capital Partners, Upheaval Investments, Votiv Capital, Keiretsu Forum and Keiretsu Capital, the company has raked in $19 million—all dedicated to the advancement of HaptX’s VR gloves.
HaptX will showcase its VR and robotics applications at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2020. You can learn more about HaptX Gloves at haptx.com, or visit their booth during CES.
Feature Image Credit: HaptX
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