Tactical Haptics Controllers Ready For Production

San Diego, California, USA – Dec 4, 2018 – The founder and CEO of Tactical Haptics will be discussing the company’s newly upgraded haptic game controller at the SMART HAPTICS Conference in San Diego, CA.  The new design embodies the learning from haptic controllers shown earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the Game Developers Conference (GDC). Tactical Haptics controllers are now more modular and manufacturable for increased customizability at reduced expense.  The upgraded design was supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

While head-mounted displays and computing power have advanced rapidly in the last several years, current haptic interfaces still have either limited range of motion (force feedback devices) or are too crude (rumble) to portray a broad range of realistic haptic interactions in VR. Tactical Haptics has created an ungrounded haptic motion controller that utilizes a new form of touch feedback that applies in-hand shear forces to create compelling physical feedback to complete the VR experience. With the controller in hand, users can experience the stretch of a bow and arrow, the inertia of a swinging ball & chain, the impact of a sword, the tug of a fish, or the kick of a gun to bring their VR experiences to life.

Tactical Haptics has been awarded a Phase IIB Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant (IIP-1632341) from NSF to make their novel haptic controller more manufacturable for production. This grant is an extension of their Phase II SBIR grant, “Intuitive Touch Feedback via Ungrounded Tactile Shear Feedback for Virtual Reality and Human-Machine Interfaces,” which was focused on creating the minimum viable product (MVP) of the company’s haptic motion controller.

The company’s MVP controller design was debuted earlier this year at CES 2018 and at the Los Angeles IMAX VR Centre in combination with Justice League: An IMAX VR® Exclusive. In addition to the MVP of their novel touch feedback, the company also unveiled their new concept for reconfiguring controllers on-the-fly in VR using magnetic sockets.  These magnetic sockets provide connect-points on each of the controllers to form semi-rigid connections between them. This allows users to transform their VR interactions by acting out their intended actions with their hands – keeping them immersed in the VR experience.  The company’s new design will continue to offer these reconfigurable magnetic sockets, but will do so as a modular add-on in addition to modular 3^rd party tracking attachments for Oculus Touch, Windows MR, Vive Tracker, and OptiTrak.

Tactical Haptics founder, William Provancher, will be discussing the company’s new controller design at the SMART HAPTICS conference in San Diego, CA, as part of the company’s pivot to focus on VR Location-Based Entertainment and training. The company is currently seeking partnerships in these core areas and will release further details in early 2019.

About the company’s touch feedback:

The company’s advanced touch feedback works by mimicking the friction and shear forces that we feel in the real world when holding an object or touching a surface. The touch feedback system works by tracking the movements of the player’s hand (e.g., using a Vive Tracker, Oculus Touch, Windows MR, or Optitrack tracking system) and actuating small sliding plates on the surface of the grip-region of the controller. These plates recreate the friction and shear forces that are naturally experienced when holding an actual object such as a baseball bat, slingshot, or fishing rod.  In addition to gaming, this touch feedback can also be used in augmented reality, telerobotic interfaces for manufacturing and maintenance, industrial and construction operator interfaces, toys (e.g., light saber), pilot training interfaces, automotive navigation and safety systems, computer-aided design (CAD), education, laparoscopic or telerobotic surgery, rehabilitation, swing training, or to guide the blind.  This video from NBC Learn’s Science of Innovation series provides an overview of this new touch feedback technology (“Science of Innovation: Motion Controller for Virtual Reality”, http://www.nbclearn.com/science-of-innovation/cuecard/105464).

For more information on the company’s touch feedback, please visit:  http://tacticalhaptics.com/media/#NBCLearn
Link to press release: http://tacticalhaptics.com/TacticalHaptics-NSF-SMART_HAPTICS
Related story on UploadVR: https://uploadvr.com/tactical-haptics-reactive-grip-vr-controllers-are-now-production-ready/
Link to high-resolution images: http://tacticalhaptics.com/pressImages/NSFSMARTHAPTICS2018/

Related Links:

Official Website: http://tacticalhaptics.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tacticalhaptics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tacticalhaptics
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TacticalHaptics/videos
NBC Learn’s “Science of Innovation: Motion Controller for Virtual Reality” video on Tactical Haptics, http://www.nbclearn.com/science-of-innovation/cuecard/105464
Company’s NSF SBIR Phase IIB Award:  https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1632341

About Tactical Haptics

Founded in 2013, Tactical Haptics is revolutionizing gaming in virtual reality (VR) with haptic game controllers that provide natural and intuitive touch feedback that completes the VR experience.  Realistic touch feedback is a critical element for creating immersive experiences and is currently missing from virtual reality (VR) and video games. Tactical Haptics has developed innovative touch feedback that can be built into a game controller. The company’s unique touch feedback connects users to their gaming experience in a way that was never before possible, creating illusions of elasticity and inertia that aren’t possible with industry-standard rumble (vibration) feedback. The company is currently seeking location-based entertainment (LBE) partners as it prepares its new haptic controller for production. The company is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Funding Acknowledgement

Tactical Haptics has been partially funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF), with the focus of creating their next generation haptic motion controller (IIP-1632341).

Media Contact:
William Provancher