RISE Centre of Excellence announced today an agreement with Ultrahaptics which will see multiple Ultrahaptics’ Development Kits go on to the organization to research the use of haptics in a range of applications.

The agreement is a result of a relationship that began with the Ultrahaptics team over a year ago. The exciting demonstration by Dr. Orestis Georgiou on 16 April 2018, on the Ultrahaptics breakthrough haptic technology and a further success story showcase of Ultrahaptics from Research to Innovation, that took place on 10 January 2019, inspired RISE research teams to propose to Ultrahaptics innovative ideas for applications that these devices can be explored.

Dr Orestis Georgiou, Director of Research at Ultrahaptics stated that “we are very excited to be working with RISE Cyprus and look forward to strengthening our research collaborations on the island as we explore new interactive media and use cases.”  During the first two events Dr Georgiou analysed the technical aspects, the challenges and the prospects of this technology and the potential use of the mid-air haptics in various fields such as automotive, industrial & medical interfaces, with an emphasis on virtual and augmented reality applications. The Ultrahaptics Touch Development Kits with the use of an array of ultrasound transducers and motion tracking cameras can provide mid-air haptic feedback to the palm of the user, simulating three-dimensional shapes and textures.

In response, Dr Despina Michael-Grigoriou, Leader of the Visual Sciences Research Pillar of RISE, expressed her satisfaction on this collaboration stating that “Our [RISE] collaboration with the Ultrahaptics, an international company bringing technology innovation from R&D outputs, is very important for RISE and aligned with its goals. The Ultrahaptics development kits will be used by research teams of RISE in prototyping innovative applications for interactive museums’ installations, control of a human-guided robot and a haptic braille keyboard.”

More information for Ultrahaptics company can be found here: www.ultrahaptics.com