Haptikos reveals a hand -held exoskeleton for picking digital things in XR

Hapticos Introduces a hand -held exoskeleton designed to allow you to use your hands with precision in haptic applications. Works with expanded reality devices (XR).

Based in Sunwine, California, and Athens, Greece, Haptikos came out of the MIT innovation event at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company has also announced that it has raised $ 2.7 million in funding. In this fabrication, you carry one on both hands. Exoskeleton can mimic the feeling of textures. It creates a sense of tactile feedback and provides kinesthetics for touching.

The exoskeleton allows you to catch things in a virtual world with your fingers. It attaches to your hand through a strap. The exoskeleton fingers attach to the tip of your fingers. It looks like a big spider on the back of your hand. After all, this can be user technology. But so far it is focused on robotics, production, defense, medicine and other business applications. It is aimed at any XR applications that can use a complete sense of touch, said Greg Agriopoulos, CEO of Haptikos, in an interview with Gamesbeat.

“We live in a time when digital interactions are an integral part of our daily lives, from social media to work experience,” Agriopoulos said. “Our presence in the digital world continues to grow. And as these trends are accelerated, we can make this interaction more human. “

And it’s not just a hardware. This is part of the Haptikos ecosystem for integrated hardware and software. It is priced at $ 2500 per unit estimated and is also available separately. The possible goal is the final price below $ 1000 by 2026, when the final production units are sent.

Combined with the company’s Ai Haptik OS (the company spelled Haptik_os), the combination of exoskeleton and operating system brings a complete sense of touch to VR and AR applications and other cases of use. The technology is available for licensing.

“We are extremely excited that we finally leave the insoles in the Holy Halls of MIT, where their slogan” Mens et manus “-Latin for” mind and hand “-has acquired a new and very literal meaning,” Agriopoulos said. “Competitive haptic solutions are usually glove based and never fit the most hands properly-our exoskeleton fits perfectly on everyone, it is much more accurate, much cheaper and is the only solution combined with a real software solution that makes it really that really makes it Useful for a range of markets. “

Exoskeleton hapticos

The company is a child of Agriopoulos and Vasilastolos Uranus, who are in Athens, Greece. Uranis said funding comes through European Union programs such as XR2industry and XR4ED. They provide financing without dilution in support of avant -garde innovations in the sector.

The prototype of the exoskeleton makes it possible to feel the clear sensations of different materials, from smooth surfaces to complex textures. Whether it works with virtual objects in training or design, Haptikos makes digital environments feel tangible and realistic, improving overall realism.

It has an increase of 12 milliseconds and a decline of 55 milliseconds. Haptikos said it guarantees that every touch and interaction feels immediately and smoothly.

Haptikos’s manual exoskeleton has 24 degrees of freedom (DOF) by hand. There is a submilimeter accuracy of movement. And there are eight hours of continuous use, beating long -delivery commercial alternatives. As the company controls each joint, it says that users can feel realistic movements from the most delicate gestures to the most complex actions.

“This is a man-machine interaction. You can use it for VR, AR and Robotics. We already have clients who do this. No need to calibrate every time we reuse it, “Agriopoulos said. “We see these restrictions in several hardware solutions where they use or in units that have a drift effect and have to calibrate the system again.”

The company uses AI and adapts the interactions for each specific application.

Each exoskeleton includes tracking sensors and tactile sensors. Kinesthetic sensors will be added later in 2025.

In our interview, Agriopoulos said that our senses require full support and in particular our fingers need high accuracy. He said the exoskeleton can be used to train high skill for things like surgeons in medical applications. It also has defensive and manufacturing applications where engineers hold virtual sites or conduct pilot maintenance training. It can track the movement and specific tasks of technological robots. Machine operators also want precision finger control when driving machines from a distance.

Agriopoulos said the technology was seamlessly integrated. It has a complex software ecosystem, advanced hardware and AI software development kit to create realistic virtual fingers.

“But what really distinguishes our solution is the right balance between productivity, ease of use and adaptability,” he said. “We were able to make it accessible, providing access to anyone who sees value in our system.”

The company collaborates with industry leaders such as Siemens and Leonardo to improve technology and to affirm its potential.

Agriopoulos, indicating a technological pioneer, said: “As Alan Kay said,” People who are really serious for the software have to make their own hardware. “This is our philosophy. When we started this trip, there was no hardware available to support our software frame. And that actually motivates us to build our own. It guarantees that every element of our solution works in perfect harmony to provide natural interactions and experiences. “

The company focuses its research on excellent achievements in traffic tracking. It can track 24 degrees of freedom of hand. In addition, there is submilimeter accuracy of movement in each of these degrees.

“Whether it’s a surgeon or an engineer, they have the ability to perform any gesture they want and the system can capture any high -precision movement,” Agriopoulos said. “So when we design experiences, we know where each bone of our system is placed. We can more meaningfully manage and activate the sensors of the site. So we see how important the level of accuracy that traffic tracking provides to provide kinesthetic feedback.

Feedback for experience

“Haptikos exoskeletons have expanded the postpartum bubble procedure training program,” Ayeff Makevoy, a specialist register and a clinical teacher at the National Maternity Hospital in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Faculty of Medicine at UC Davis, said in a statement. “Both clinicians and students have experienced a significant improvement in their procedural skills after using Haptikos. The realistic tactile feedback and precision control, activated by Haptikos, allowed a more compelling and effective learning experience, significantly increasing the levels of confidence of learners in their skills set for this critical procedure. “

Through these sensors, Haptikos traces the movement of each joint of the hand with precise details. This means complete, natural control over any movement. It varies from bending of fingers to complex gestures with hands, which makes digital interactions smooth and intuitive.

“Haptikos really impressed the entire MIT Innovation Technology team with their sophisticated haptics, and we are extremely pleased to have seen the value of launching our premiere event in tandem with MIT REALITY HACK,” said Maria Rice, CEO of Mit Reality Hack, in a statement S “Haptics is a long -neglected component of an overall XR solution and their combination of a food, operating system and AI, combined with the lead -leading Unity SDK industry, is a victory for all developers looking for the next XR border.”

Haptikos launched at the first annual event of Mit Experien also in January 2025. It has the only mission to provide the most realistic and captivating spatial experience based on touch.

It will be available for less than half of the price of competitive solutions, the company said. And there are two passive feedback systems for tactile feedback. This is a vibration -based engine, where you can program the intensity based on friction. The goal is to balance the simulation and to create the illusion that you are touching something.

They started with a glove solution, but saw restrictions. One of them is that your hand sweats after a while. And integrating kinesthetic feedback is difficult. Finally, there are many different sizes for hands and it is difficult to make a glove to fit all of them. The exoskeleton simply needs contact with the tips of your fingers and a strap through your palm. It rests on the top of your hand. Kinesthetic feedback is more accurate. You can use it for a long time, said Agriopoulos.

Haptik os

The Haptik OS app is the Central Center for Connecting Haptikos Exoskeleton. It seamlessly integrates their capabilities into projects and movement control. And redirects this data to Unity Software Development Kit (SDK).

Haptik OS itself is at the heart of the Haptikos ecosystem. It connects developers, designers and end users to create realistic, intuitive and compelling experiences. Through built -in AI functionality, Haptik_os automatically adapts the pre -constructed libraries in new haptic XR applications. He does it in Unity, simplifying both integration and scales.

Haptik OS is available through three levels of license. For freemium, the operating system has basic tools to start exploring. The main level is the Software Development Kit (SDK) for integration into applications. And there is a professional level with full access to AI automated customization tools.

The company employs eight people full -time and seven part -time.