HaptX Ready To Ship Enterprise Data Gloves

Charlie Fink
3 min readFeb 1, 2021

HaptX, makers of force-feedback VR gloves, announced today they are ready to ship their advanced force-feedback gloves, dubbed the DK2 (Developer Kit 2) The HaptX DK2 is the first true-contact haptics available to purchase on the market, utilizing 130 points of feedback on a user’s hand.

The DK2 gloves are an advanced development kit made for simulation, design, and research professionals who are pioneering the future of VR and robotics. Some current use cases for the product are seen in companies that rely on robots as the touch feedback with the HaptX DK2 Gloves enables remote control of the robot’s arms and hands. HaptX Chief Revenue Officer Joe Michaels told us “a major technology company is currently testing the product as part of telerobotic devices that will allow human technicians to safely repair high-voltage computer equipment from remote distances.”

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 unveiled a first-of-its-kind haptic telerobot developed with All Nippon Airways, Tangible Research, and Shadow Robot Company. In a widely publicized demo, Jeff Bezos described the system as “really impressive” and remarked that “the tactile feedback is tremendous.”

With data gloves on both hands a user could operate remote machinery, or manipulate objects in VR. HaptX

Waymon Armstrong, CEO and founder of Orlando defense contractor Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS), told me, “The US Army uses VR to train pilots, mechanics, warfighters, medics and many others. They have funded ECS to develop next-generation VR training for Army medical personnel. They specifically requested we incorporate state-of-the-art haptic gloves, and we are proud to be one of the first HaptX Gloves DK2 customers. We ordered more than one pair so we can test networking multiple soldiers in the same VR environment learning together with realistic haptics.”

HaptX partnered with Advanced Input Systems to scale up production, service, and sell the gloves worldwide. The gloves are priced for enterprise which means each pair is thousands of dollars. Senseglove, a competitor who generated buzz at CES for its force-feedback gloves, charges $5,000. You can request a quote at HaptX.com. “The product marks a leap forward in what’s possible with VR, XR, and robotics technologies,” Jake Rubin, Haptx Founder and CEO.

Amit Kapur, tech investor and former COO of MySpace, said “I’ve invested in HaptX multiple times since leading their seed round in 2016 because I think they’re on to something big. Lots of companies have tackled the audiovisual side of VR, but only HaptX has cracked the critical problem of realistic touch in VR and robotics. They’ve already sold 75% of their first production run of the DK2, and their customers include some of the top companies in the world, so I’m enthusiastic about the company’s future.”

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Originally published at https://www.forbes.com.

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Charlie Fink

Consultant, Columnist, Author, Adjunct, Covering AI, XR, Metaverse for Forbes