From the Marketplace to Today's Classroom, Immersion Helps Drive Market Adoption of Haptic Technology
SAN FRANCISCO--June 2, 2003--Immersion Assists Academy of Art Industrial Design Students in Learning Haptic Design Criteria For Next Generation Consumer Products
Introducing talented students to new technology and the business world, Immersion Corp. is the first haptic technology company to work with two industrial design classes at the Academy of Art College of Industrial Design in San Francisco. Haptics, from the Greek word hapesthai meaning the science of touch, is an embedded technology also known as force feedback that enables people to feel realistic and rich tactile sensations when using digital technology. As a market leader in haptics, Immersion has added the sense of touch to joysticks, computer mice and even car controls, like the BMW 7-series iDrive. Its technology is used in over 100 computer peripherals from 20 companies, over 250 software titles, cars from BMW, Volkswagen, and Rolls Royce as well as medical training simulators used in hospitals nationwide.
With Immersion's help, Academy of Arts students designed a full range of new consumer products that incorporated Immersion's haptic technology in unique ways. The students' design mentor was Tom Matano, who has over 30 years of experience and designed the Mazda Miata and RX-7. Matano brings an abundance of real-world design industry knowledge and creativity to the classroom.
"Haptics stretched the imaginations of our students, giving them another important new sense -- touch -- to consider in the overall industrial design form and function of future consumer products," said Matano, now Director of Industrial Design at the Academy of Art College.
During the semester, students visited Immersion's haptics lab in San Jose and worked closely with Immersion's chief technology officer, Dean Chang, exchanging conceptual ideas and discussing the market potential. The students' final designs illustrated the power of haptics and helped set the stage for the evolution of next generation consumer products.
"We helped the industrial design students understand the importance of touch in the human-machine interface," said Dr. Chang. "This interface is where people and technology meet which has traditionally been dominated by purely visual design guidelines. For an immersive experience, it must also be equally natural, appealing, and informative to the touch. It can be as subtle as incorporating navigational aids like tactile cues in the menu of a universal remote controller or as poignant as sending a realistic and palpable kiss emoticon to a loved one while talking on a cell phone."
Taking a "hands-on" approach to haptic design in consumer products, Chang taught the students about the full range of haptic capabilities and what types of effects are most appropriate for creating a particular "feel" for a product's function. For example, tactile sensations include textures, vibrations, and bumps while kinesthetic sensations allow you to feel contours and shapes, the weight of a stone, the resistance of stirring molasses, or the impact of hitting a tennis racquet's sweet spot. The end result was a full range of new haptic product designs which laid the groundwork for innovative haptic products in the future.
Academy of Art College, Industrial Design Program
Silicon Valley technology companies who are interested in sponsoring similar classes should contact Liz White at the Academy of Art College Industrial Design, phone number: 415/263-5511, email: lwhite@academyart.edu.
About Immersion (www.immersion.com)
Founded in 1993, Immersion Corp. is a recognized leader in developing, licensing and marketing haptic technology and products. Bringing value to markets to enhance user interaction, safety, or productivity, Immersion helps its partners develop and increase competitive advantage and broaden market reach by making the use of touch sense feedback as critical a user experience as sight and sound. Immersion's technology is deployed across personal computing, entertainment, medical training, automotive and three-dimensional simulation markets. Immersion and its wholly owned subsidiaries hold over 185 issued patents worldwide.
Forward Looking Statement
Statements made in this media alert other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including those that reflect management's current forecast of certain aspects of Immersion's future. Forward-looking statements made in this press release are based on current information, which we have assessed but which by its nature is dynamic and subject to rapid and even abrupt changes. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Immersion's strategic development and position within the haptic economy. Immersion's actual results might differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with Immersion's business which include, but are not limited to, delay in or failure to achieve commercial demand for Immersion's touch-enabled technology products or a delay in or failure to achieve the acceptance of touch sense feedback as a critical user experience.
Risks and uncertainties related to Immersion's business in addition to those described above are further outlined in Immersion's Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. These reports are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors may not constitute all of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in any forward-looking statement. Immersion is not obligated to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this medial alert.
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