Category: STRATOS

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Mid-air Touch Technology Specialist Ultrahaptics Secures £35m Investment

British startup Ultrahaptics began life as a project within Bristol University in 2013, securing £17.9 million of funding in 2017. Today, the company has announced the successful completion of a Series C round of investment, securing £35 million GBP ($45 million USD).

STRATOS Haptic Development Kit

The round was led by Mayfair Equity Partners, with further new investors including Hostplus, the major Australian superannuation fund. Existing shareholders IP Group plc, Woodford Investment, Cornes and Dolby Family Ventures also participated.

Commenting on the round, Ultrahaptics CEO, Steve Cliffe, said in a statement: “We’re delighted to welcome major new investor Mayfair, while receiving further endorsement and support from our existing shareholders for the company’s exciting next phase of development. Our funding has become ever more global, reflecting the potential of our technology in industry sectors and markets all over the world.”

The investment will enable Ultrahaptics to further develop and commercialise its haptic technology for user interfaces and experiences. Ultrahaptics’ core mid-air haptic technology creates the sense of touch in mid-air by using arrays of ultrasonic transducers to project haptic feedback directly onto users’ hands. Through the emission of ultrasound waves, developers can manipulate them so that the combined pressure of the waves interacting produces a force that can be felt.

Ultrahaptics

“The potential for mid-air haptics systems within immersive infotainment systems and human-machine interfaces is very compelling and exciting,” adds Daniel Sasaki, Managing Partner of Mayfair Equity Partners. “We look forward to supporting the Ultrahaptics team in their journey to become the global platform enabling mid-air haptics.”

Earlier this year saw Ultrahaptics launch its STRATOS Explore development kit for enterprise customers who want to explore how mid-air haptics can enhance their products. The company’s most recent release has been the STRATOS Inspire plug-n-play haptic module for applications such as digital signage, location-based entertainment or interactive touch displays and interfaces.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Ultrahaptics, reporting back with the latest updates.

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Create 3D Mid-Air Objects With Ultrahaptics’ STRATOS Explore Development Kit

Last month, haptics technology company Ultrahaptics announced the STRATOS platform, designed to create advanced touch-based sensations in mid-air. Now it’s launching STRATOS Explore, the first development kit based on the platform.

STRATOS Haptic Development Kit

With STRATOS Explore tech companies and developers can begin experimenting with haptics as a new way for users to interface with their products, whether that’s for virtual reality (VR), 3D gesture interfaces or advanced automotive controls.

Ultrahaptics’ core mid-air haptic technology creates the sense of touch in mid-air by using arrays of ultrasonic transducers to project haptic feedback directly onto users’ hands. Through the emission of ultrasound waves developers can manipulate them so that the combined pressure of the waves interacting produces a force that can be felt. Due to the device’s close arrangement of arrays multiple pressure points can be created, so that the user can feel 3D shapes, buttons, sliders and virtual objects in thin air.

“The STRATOS Explore development kit is the best solution for customers who want to explore how mid-air haptics can enhance their products. We can now offer an off-the-shelf development kit based on our most advanced platform,” said David Hearne, VP Sales. “Whether customers are looking to create cutting-edge, cleaner and safer user interfaces, or to design immersive experiences in which users can reach out and touch 3D digital media, we now have the perfect tool for them to start innovating with.”

Available to purchase now through Ultrahaptics distribution network, the STRATOS Explore doesn’t come cheap with it listed on Arrow.com for $5,000 USD. The kit includes:

  • 16×16 transducer array (Murate transducers), control board and frame structure
  • Leap Motion camera module for hand tracking and gesture recognition
  • 5 frame mounted cover materials (2 metal, 3 acoustic fabric)
  • Software Development Kit with Time Point Streaming, supporting C#, C++ API and Unity integration
  • Support for Windows, OSX and Linux based platforms
  • Sensation Editor tool to assist with customisation and and development of sensations
  • Mid-air haptics demonstration suite
  • Multi-region (US/UK/EU) power supply and USB cables

For further updates from Ultrahaptics, keep reading VRFocus.

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Air Becomes 3D With Ultrahaptics new STRATOS Platform

Ultrahaptics, a tech startup which originally started as a project within Bristol University has today announced a new technology platform that can create advanced haptic sensations in mid-air, STRATOS.

Ultrahaptics

STRATOS features the company’s patented Time Point Streaming (TPS) technology to create complex haptic sensations suitable for the rendering of 3D objects by using arrays of ultrasonic transducers to project haptic feedback directly onto users’ hands.

Ultrahapics explains in a blog posting that: “In the STRATOS platform, the Time Point Streaming algorithms are fully embedded in an FPGA solver, reducing CPU load and allowing easier integration and lower manufacturing costs for the company’s customers.  The architecture is also scalable, supporting arrays of up to 2048 transducers, which enables customers to build larger interaction zones.”

The technology can be used in a wide range of applications, from controls to immersive environments. In automotive infotainment for example, controls are made safer and more intuitive by combining gesture-recognition technology and mid-air haptic feedback. While for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) purposes, whether that’s in consumer, enterprise or location-based entertainment products, haptic technology has the ability to create a stronger sense of presence through the addition of tactile sensations to complement audio and visual stimuli.

“It’s fantastic to bring our most advanced technology to a scalable, production-ready, embedded solution, and to be able to share this with the world!,” said Robert Blenkinsopp, Ultrahapics VP Product. “There are so many applications for this technology, and I’m very excited to see what our customers will create with it. I’m immensely proud of the technical leaps we’ve made in bringing STRATOS to market, and I’m looking forward to launching new products on the platform in the next few months, including reference designs for multiple applications.”

Last year, Ultrahaptics secured £17.9 million GBP of funding through an investment round. Then last month it announced a partnership with ZeroLight and Meta on an AR experience where users could explore a Pagani Huaya roadster hypercar. As  Ultrahaptics continues development, VRFocus will keep you updated.