HaptX has been one of the most promising XR hardware companies to watch. Their gloves for more immersive XR experiences and interactions are one of the most promising pieces of kit in the ecosystem. However, while the company has released two generations of developers’ kits, a mainline product has yet to arrive. Until now. (Sorry gamers, it is an enterprise device.)
Announced today, HaptX Gloves G1 are now available for pre-order starting at $5,495 per pair, though bundle offers can bring the price down to as low as $4,500 per pair. Less than the full price is required as a deposit upon pre-order. The gloves also require a subscription to a service and maintenance plan, beginning at $495 per month.
That’s more than most consumers pay for their headsets, but it’s also significantly less expensive than the developer’s kits. Shipping is expected to begin late next year.
“With HaptX Gloves G1, we’re making it possible for all organizations to leverage our lifelike haptics,” HaptX founder and CEO, Jake Rubin, said in a release shared with ARPost. “Touch is the cornerstone of the next generation of human-machine interface technologies, and the opportunities are endless.”
The Gloves G1 are available in four sizes and feature improved haptics and ergonomics, as well as wireless mobility. This model reportedly “fits like a conventional glove” thanks to “advances in materials science and the latest manufacturing techniques.”
The HaptX SDK also features updates including multi-user support and an API to bring in C++ assets in addition to Unity and Unreal Engine that were already supported via plugins. It’s not an XR application strictly speaking, but the Gloves G1 can also remotely control robots.
“Too often, we see enterprise and industry leaders resort to using game controllers for interacting with business applications in the metaverse,” HaptX Chief Revenue Officer, Joe Michaels, said in the release. “Organizations developing their metaverse strategy now have a solution for touch feedback so effective, their jobs can depend on it.”
For more information on how HaptX gloves work, check out our introductory article on the company. The short of it is that the gloves use a network of “microfluidic activators” – capsules and tubes filled with air managed by an onboard compressor, the wireless Airpack. Pressure differences in the glove replicate the forces of interaction with a physical object.
This model is only the first shipping product – it’s hardly the end of the HaptX story. The company has plans to create a full haptic suit and has not ruled out a consumer model of either an eventual suit or their gloves.
Today’s announcement isn’t even so much as a hint toward the suit or a consumer offering. However, it is a demonstration of how we get to that point. This product announcement is driven by advancing manufacturing and design that has made the product line more versatile, more manageable, and more affordable.
There’s a lot here to be excited about.
If you’re in enterprise, you have impending access to a fully-functioning market-ready HaptX glove. If you’re in the consumer market, you’re watching some of the trickiest technology in the ecosystem come down in scale, complexity, and price. If you found this article by mistake, enterprise procedures that you benefit from are being streamlined by emerging technology.
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