Ultrahaptics and Leap Motion join forces

SETsquared Bristol alumni member Ultrahaptics and Leap Motion, the world leaders in mid-air haptics, contactless interfaces and hand tracking technologies, today announced a strategic deal which will combine their expertise and create the world’s leading spatial interaction company.

The combination of teams and their technologies will accelerate innovation and enhance commercial applications. This means both improving current solutions and driving new forms of contactless interactive products.

We are building a company to support the changes between human and machine interaction that will define the 21^st century. Together, Ultrahaptics and Leap Motion products have the opportunity to be at the global epicentre of spatial interaction. Taking a holistic view of this exciting market, not only can we continue to create two hugely significant technologies, but we can max out the potential of combining them – proving that one plus one really can make three!

With this deal, we’ll combine some of the best minds in human-computer interaction. We will be better placed to leverage our customer contacts and expand the vertical stack of immersive technologies, just as the applications which benefit from our collective strengths are moving into the mainstream.

David Holz, Co-founder and CTO of Leap Motion, said:

We’ve been working with Ultrahaptics for nearly six years. Both companies have an intense passion for deepening the bond between people and technology and together we can reach the true potential of both. We’ve been the undisputed leaders in our respective spaces from the beginning and this marks an exciting new era of even greater technologies and more physical, intuitive experiences.

Ultrahaptics’ technology projects ultrasound-driven tactile sensations onto users’ hands. Users can ‘feel’ and interact with virtual objects and controls in mid-air, with no need for wearables, controllers or touchscreens. The company is currently engaged with blue-chip customers in sectors such as automotive (where the company has developed concept vehicles with Bosch and Harman), digital out-of-home, location-based entertainment, industrial controls, medical interfaces, VR gaming and AR/VR enterprise applications.

Leap Motion is the world leader in hand tracking technology which can be embedded into any product, including VR and AR headsets. Its community of over 300,000 software developers use the technology to continually push the envelope of the human-computer experience. Global enterprises and creative studios have licensed the technology for everything from art installations to medical training and treatment, to industrial design and location-based entertainment including The Void’s Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at Disney.

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