CES 2025 Haptics Highlights and New Year Updates

January 2025 Edition of All Things Haptics

Hey Haptics Insider,

Welcome to the first All Things Haptics edition of 2025! This month, we’re diving into the latest in haptics from CES, including the biggest trends, post-holiday releases, and a few must-read resources to kick off the year.

Did you attend CES? With over 141,000 attendees, the 57-year-old trade show was buzzing with innovation. While AI dominated the spotlight, haptics quietly stole the show, both on the floor and behind closed doors in exclusive hotel suite demos. Don’t worry if you missed it—I’ve got all the highlights covered.

Let’s get started!

Buzzings at CES 2025

For tech geeks, CES is the most wonderful time of the year. Here are some of the major announcements and trends.

🥽🪑VR Swivel Throne - At CES 2025, Roto VR unveiled a VR gaming chair concept called the Roto VR Explorer. The chair swivels to match the user's in-game movements, reducing motion sickness. (Gaming Nexus)

👀 Immersion Without the Headset - Sony unveiled a non-VR concept for a location-based experience based on The Last of Us. It uses large screens, haptics, and effects to immerse players in the world of the game. (Road to VR)

⌨️🔳⌨️ A Touch of Magic? - At CES 2025, Hyper announced a “premium” haptic trackpad for Windows users. It is designed to mimic the functionality of Apple's Magic Trackpad while offering enhanced haptic feedback. (ZDnet)

🚨💺 TREND: Haptic Seats - Haptic seats were a popular feature at CES, showcased both in booths and behind closed doors. A diverse range of companies demonstrated innovations across automotive and sim racing applications, including Nitro, SIMLYTE, Thermaltake, Grewus, Razer, Ultrasense, and many more.

👨‍🦯 Haptic Headset Shows the Way - DotLumen’s haptic headset, unveiled at CES 2025, uses cameras to detect obstacles and delivers haptic feedback on the forehead, helping blind individuals navigate with ease. (Engadget)

🦺 bHaptics Geared Up - bHaptics showcased their latest lineup of haptic peripherals, featuring vests, arm bands, and gloves. The gear promises immersive feedback for gaming and VR enthusiasts. (TechRadar)

❓🛑 Sony Drops the Ring with XYN - Sony brought their new headset, sans ring, out at CES. Mashable says the new headset is “a game-changer for 3D content creators.” (mashable)

🖋️🖱️ Happily Ever Haply - Following their MinVerse 3D winning the “Best of Innovation” award at CES, Haply revealed plans to launch on Kickstarter. (Twitter / Haply)

💍 Put A Ring On It - Afference showcased its self titled Ring at CES, which applies neural haptics to your finger to provide tactile feedback when using gesture controls. (Cnet)

🚗💨 Touchy Feely Windshield - At CES 2025, BMW unveiled a panoramic head-up display with haptic touch controls, with the goal of letting drivers interact through gestures and tactile feedback. (Extremetech)

📿 Good Vibes Only - Not to toot my own horn, but at CES 2025, my TITAN Haptics team introduced our latest haptic concepts, including TITAN Ono, a pendant that blends relaxation and entertainment with high-definition vibrations. (Live Science)

January Fresh Finds

🏀 ｡✴︎˚｡ Haptic Courtside Action - The Portland Trail Blazers became the first NBA team to feature OneCourt's haptic display technology at all their home games. (NBA)

💵 Kyocera Bets Big on Haptics - Kyocera invests €5M in TactoTek to integrate its haptic actuators into In-Mold Structural Electronics, aiming for thinner, lighter haptic interfaces. (Arcticstartup)

🎮 Winplay Brings Gaming to Tablets - Xiaomi is reportedly testing its WinPlay Engine to bring Windows game compatibility to Android tablets, with planned support for Xbox controllers and haptics. (GSM Arena)

✨ App-tastic Haptics - The Grok AI app for iPhone has been updated with PDF support, haptic settings, and other improvements. (iClarified)

🍄🏰 All Hype, No Touch (Yet) - Nintendo has announced the development of a successor to the Nintendo Switch console. Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to drop this year, with no word on the haptics…yet. (Techradar)

🥺 PSVR Struggles? - A former PlayStation exec apologized for the PS VR2's underperformance, with Sony reducing funding for VR games and only two titles left in development. The headset’s future appears unclear, especially with recent layoffs at Firesprite. (The Verge / The Gamer )

😎 An Infinite Tease - Samsung teased its Project Moohan, aka its mixed reality headset in collaboration with Google and Qualcomm. Controllers and specs ….TBD. (Mashable)

Latest Studies and Resources

🔋⚡ Get Charged Up - Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a wearable material that “generates power and improves comfort.” (SpaceDaily)

💻📢 Touchy-Feely Speakers Patent - Microsoft has filed a patent for a Surface Laptop with a speaker integrated into the touchpad. (MSN)

🙌 Prosthetic Hands Learn to Multitask - Researchers from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) introduce new methods to enhance prosthetic users' ability to manipulate several objects. (TechTimes)

🗑️ Haptic Thimble - Researchers unveil a thimble-like device that can mimics the “stiffness of materials like aluminum, foam, and jelly.” (Nature / Research Gate)

⌚ Electrohydraulic Feels - Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have developed CUTE, a wearable device that uses electrohydraulic technology to generate haptic sensations. (AZ Sensors)

🦾 Getting a Grip - Researchers have developed a soft robotic armband that aims to enhance the control and natural feel of prosthetic hands for users. (MSN)

🎹 Robotic Hand Assists Pianists - A study shows that a robotic hand can help pianists surpass traditional practice limits by passively training fingers to enhance speed and dexterity. (arstechnica)

Thank You and See You Soon

Thanks again to all the faithful readers who enjoy this newsletter. If you’d like to go the extra mile, consider liking this post, sharing it with someone in your network or becoming a VIP subscriber or supporter on Patreon.

Got news to share? I’d love to hear from you. Let’s keep the conversation going and make this year a BIG one for haptics.

Yours truly,

Ashley Huffman

Founder, All Things Haptics
Co-founder of Haptics Club Podcast
Partnerships at TITAN Haptics
Follow me on X and Bsky