Business
Immersion Announces Partnership with ANA Avatar XPRIZE to Support Competing Teams in Developing Physical Avatar Systems
Haptics play a central role in the competition’s challenge; Immersion to provide technology solutions and advise competing teams on the use of haptics SAN
About this update from Immersion Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\nHaptics play a central role in the competition’s challenge; Immersion to provide technology solutions and advise competing teams on the use of haptics\n\n SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nImmersion Corporation (NASDAQ: IMMR), the leading developer and provider of technologies for haptics, today announced its support for the ANA Avatar XPRIZE – a competition challenging teams to develop a physical Avatar System that will transport an operator’s senses, actions, and presence to a remote location in real-time.\n\nThe competition aims to realize technology that can bypass the barriers of distance and time to enable people to physically experience a remote location or provide on-the-ground assistance. As of this writing, 77 Qualified Teams are competing to develop an Avatar System with which an operator can see, hear, and interact within a remote environment in a manner that feels as if they are truly there.\n\n“Avatars will help reimagine the human experience, giving us authentic, sensory-driven connections that will bridge our world,” said David Locke, ANA Avatar XPRIZE Director. “In order to be successful, avatars will need to have the full capabilities of human senses, in particular, touch, sight, and sound, to be able to interact with the environment as if the person is physically present. Through this partnership, Immersion can help our competing teams solve for the challenge of touching and feeling remote objects and environments.”\n\n“The sense of touch lets you feel objects, but it also allows you to interact with them, and to sense and react to new information in the environment,” said Dave Birnbaum, Distinguished Staff, Office of the CTO at Immersion. “For a person to fully function in a location separate from their physical form, you need haptic technology. We’re pleased to be able to provide our feedback to competing teams as they develop and refine haptic avatar systems. This competition is an exciting step toward a future where fully-immersive avatars improve our day to day lives.”\n\nXPRIZE is a global future-positive movement of over 1M people and rising, delivering truly radical breakthroughs in Exploration, Environment and Human Equity.\n\nAbout Immersion\n\nImmersion Corporation (NASDAQ: IMMR) is the leading innovator of touch feedback technology, also known as haptics. The company invents, accelerates, and sca...