Enabling digital worlds to feel more ‘human’ with Ultrahaptics .

Ultraleap is on a mission ‘to make digital worlds feel more human’, combining the world’s most advanced hand tracking with the only haptic technology to create the sensation of touch in mid-air.

Ultraleap’s hand tracking and haptics are powering the next wave of human potential - no controllers, wearables or touchscreens.

IP Group first came across the technology when Tom Carter, now Ultraleap’s CEO, was in the final year of his Master’s degree in Computer Science at the University of Bristol, exploring ultrasound technology. He further developed the initial concept to form the basis of his PhD studies, during which time he published numerous papers and filed various patents. Recognising the technology’s commercial viability, Tom left his studies to found Ultraleap, then Ultrahaptics, in November 2013.

IP Group has worked with Ultraleap from the outset, providing funding and business strategy. The Group also helped with senior hires, finding the company’s Chair, Michael Tobin, as well as other senior executives. Ultraleap’s CFO and its SVP Talent and People both joined from the IP Group team while Dr Mark Reilly, IP Group’s Managing Partner Technology, also sits on the Ultraleap Board and has worked closely with the team since day one.

The company, which has created close to 200 highly-skilled jobs, is a stand-out example of Bristol's burgeoning tech "scene", positively impacting the wider local ecosystem and also helping it attract some high profile international investors.

Ultraleap’s hand tracking technology is now being built into VR headsets and being used in a number of areas including for safety-critical flight attendant training where it was selected because of its reliability and flexibility. Since its introduction in 2019, around 20,000 Lufthansa flight attendants have used the VR program to complete a part of their annual training.

Research has also shown that since the pandemic, consumers favour ‘contactless’ interfaces, which Ultraleap facilitates, rather than ‘touchscreens’, as they are deemed more hygienic. Its technology is also likely to contribute positively to car safety by reducing ‘eyes off the road time’. This study suggests that adding haptics to gesture control reduces both the total and the mean ‘glance duration time’ or ‘eyes off road’ time.