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In May 2019, Ultrahaptics and Leap Motion became Ultraleap (not to be confused with Magic Leap, which operates in the same space). It’s a name change that represents the marriage of two different but related technology startups. Ultrahaptics naturally gets top billing, since it was the one that made the acquisition, paying about $30 million for the hand-tracking company.
After failing to meet at CES (thanks, Covid), I met up with co-founder and CEO Tom Carter at a coffee shop away from the maddening crowds at MWC 2024 to discuss life after the acquisition. Carter became CTO of the new company after serving the same role at Ultrahaptics for six years.
At the center of the acquisition is a push to integrate the existing technologies of both companies. The emerging world of Extended Reality (XR) is the first goal. “I think it’s a long-term vision for XR,” Carter said of the deal. “It’s not really verticality. It’s a lot of different things, and the long-range vision interacts with the 3D content.
Leap Motion is the older of the two. Founded in 2010, the startup is best known for its Leap Motion Controller, a small peripheral that contains a pair of infrared cameras and infrared LEDs, which are used to track the hand. The company settled on virtual reality as its primary use case shortly after Oculus shipped its first headset to Kickstarter backers.
The initial product wasn’t particularly elegant, as it was designed to be attached to the front of a VR mask. Ultimately, Leap Motion’s initial hype did not translate into lasting success, in part because many companies decided to turn inward for hand-tracking solutions.
Founded by two Bristol University students three years after Leap Motion, Ultrahaptics harnesses ultrasound to create tactile feedback. The technology focuses on two primary sectors. The first is automotive, using a console-based speaker that projects upward to provide a tactile sensation to head-up displays inside the car. This will be achieved through direct partnerships with automakers.
The second is XR. This, of course, is where Leap Motion technology comes into play. The combined company is working to combine the two into a device that gives you tactile feedback while tracking your hands. The resulting product would be one that would bring a sense of heaviness to the virtual landscape. Lack of sensory feedback has always been an issue in space.
Ultrahaptics is certainly not the first attempt to address this. A common solution involves wearing a pair of gloves with traditional haptic actuators — like the kind found in phones — built into them. Carter doesn’t think adding more wearable technology to the mix is the solution most XR users are looking for. Instead, the system will take the form of a small “disc” placed on the ground, sending waves to the hands.
This is not the only configuration in which the technology can work. As with the previous Leap Motion product, it will be possible to mount a device at the front of the eyebrow, but orientation is important. From below, ultrasound waves create a sensation of resistance. However, if it exits the user, the force moves in the opposite direction.
The company showed off last month at CES Sensation designerThis is an important step towards commercializing the shared technology. It’s a software package designed to give developers the ability to bring a haptic experience to XR. The demo experience at the event included a virtual bonsai tree. Leap Motion technology determines the direction of your hands in space, while Haptics provides tactile feedback when you come into contact with the virtual object.
In its final form, it can provide an added sense of reality to the virtual experience, from games to enterprise applications.
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