December 19, 2019 – HaptX, a provider of realistic haptic technology, has today announced a strategic partnership with Advanced Input Systems, along with a Series A financing round of USD $12 million. The company states that the financing will help fund the production of the next generation of HaptX Gloves – a pair of realistic haptic gloves for virtual reality and robotics.
“Over the past year, we’ve had dozens of world-class companies successfully pilot our HaptX Gloves Development Kit,” said Jake Rubin, Founder and CEO of HaptX. “With this foundational strategic partnership and fresh capital, we’re well positioned to scale up production to meet rapidly growing demand.”
For 40 years, Advanced Input Systems has delivered engineering and manufacturing expertise in Human-Machine Interface (HMI) products for companies worldwide, enabling Human-Machine experiences in the medical, industrial, commercial, military and gaming sectors. The comprehensive partnership between HaptX and Advanced Input Systems includes product development, manufacturing, and go-to-market collaboration.
“HaptX and Advanced Input Systems are overcoming a long-standing technology gap of seamlessly connecting the physical world to the virtual world,” said Eric Ballew, President of Advanced Input Systems. “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.”
The partnership coincides with the announcement of HaptX’s USD $12 million Series A funding, bringing the company’s total funding to USD $19 million. The round included participation from existing investors NetEase and Amit Kapur of Dawn Patrol Ventures, joined by new investors Mason Avenue Investments, Taylor Frigon Capital Partners, Upheaval Investments, Votiv Capital, Keiretsu Forum and Keiretsu Capital.
Enterprise customers are using HaptX Gloves in VR design, training, and robotics: Earlier this year, HaptX announced a collaboration with Nissan that brought touch to the automaker’s virtual vehicle prototypes; Fundamental Surgery integrated HaptX Gloves into their VR medical training platform; HaptX also unveiled a haptic telerobot developed with All Nippon Airways, Tangible Research, and Shadow Robot Company.
HaptX will be showcasing its VR and robotics applications at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2020.
Image credit: HaptX/Advanced Input Systems
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Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.