BHaptics
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| bHaptics | |
|---|---|
| |
| Information | |
| Industry | Haptics, virtual reality accessories |
| Founded | May 2015 |
| Founder | Kiuk Gwak (co-founder) |
| Headquarters | Daejeon, South Korea |
| Notable Personnel | Kiuk Gwak (CEO) |
| Products | TactSuit Pro, TactSuit Air, TactSleeve, TactVisor, TactGlove |
| Website | https://www.bhaptics.com |
bHaptics is a South Korean company that makes wearable haptic feedback accessories for virtual reality; its main product line is the TactSuit haptic vest. It was founded in May 2015. Co-founder and CEO Kiuk Gwak started the company during his PhD studies at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).[1][2] The company joined the second batch of HTC's Vive X accelerator program, announced in March 2017.[3]
The TactSuit vests run wirelessly over Bluetooth and use vibration motors on the front and back of the torso. Supported games send haptic events directly, and an audio-to-haptics mode converts a game's sound into vibration for titles without native support, including console and PC games.[4][5] The company sold two versions of the vest from late 2020, the TactSuit X40 and TactSuit X16, alongside haptic accessories for other parts of the body. In November 2024 it replaced them with the TactSuit Pro and TactSuit Air.[6] In April 2024 bHaptics became the first maker of haptic vests to carry Meta's "Made for Meta" accessory label.[7]
History
Founding and early products
Gwak, a KAIST doctoral student interested in brain-computer interfaces and haptics, founded bHaptics in 2015 with the aim of building haptic devices that deliver touch feedback remotely.[1] In a 2021 interview with the Daejeon science news outlet HelloDD, he said the idea of combining VR with touch came from watching VR devices take off in 2015. The same article gives the founding month as May 2015, reports that the company was headquartered in Daejeon with a branch office in Seoul, and explains the name as "Be+Haptics", meaning that everyone should be able to receive touch.[2] The Korea Creative Content Agency's company directory also lists a Yuseong-gu, Daejeon address and a founding date of May 2015.[8] Later company press releases carry a Seoul dateline.[9]
According to the company's own timeline, bHaptics built an early arm prototype in May 2015 and released its first product, the Tactosy, in December 2016. The Tactot vest followed as a prototype in June 2017 and as the Tactot DK1 in August 2017, with Tactosy versions for the hands and feet and the Tactal face interface released in November 2017.[10] The KOCCA directory credits the company with favorable reception at G-STAR 2016 in Busan and GDC 2017 in San Francisco through the agency's support program.[8]
In March 2017 HTC named bHaptics in the second batch of its Vive X accelerator, describing the company's haptic devices and haptic authoring software as a way to add haptic feedback to VR content.[3] At the Vive X demo day in Shanghai that summer, Engadget tried a wireless TactSuit kit made of a haptic mask, two haptic sleeves and a haptic vest, with 87 feedback points in total driven by eccentric rotating mass (ERM) vibration motors: seven on the face, 20 on the front of the vest, 20 on the back, and 20 on each sleeve. Gwak told Engadget that almost 47,000 people had used the suit between March and June 2017 in Zombie Attack, a horror attraction at Lotte World in Seoul that averaged more than 500 players per day.[11] The Tactot DK2 and DK3 vests followed in March 2018 and January 2019, and an arm version of the Tactosy launched in December 2018.[10]
TactSuit X series
bHaptics opened pre-orders for the TactSuit X40 and TactSuit X16 on 9 November 2020, with shipping starting on 10 December 2020.[4] The company showed both vests at CES 2021, where the X40 was named a CES 2021 Innovation Awards Honoree.[5] Its timeline also lists an iF Design Award in May 2021 and Auggie Awards in November 2021.[10]
TactGlove, TactVisor and platform expansion
In December 2021 bHaptics announced TactGlove, a pair of consumer haptic gloves priced at US$299 with 10 linear resonant actuators on the fingertips and thumbs. The gloves were designed to work with camera-based hand tracking on headsets such as the Quest 2 and HoloLens 2, and the company planned developer kits for the second quarter of 2022.[12] The company's timeline dates the TactGlove prototype unveiling to January 2022 and the TactGlove DK1 release to February 2023. It introduced the TactVisor, a haptic cover for headset faces, in June 2023.[10]
In January 2024 bHaptics announced that the TactSuit would support PlayStation VR2, with Breachers as the first compatible title and an SDK available for developers. It also presented the TactGlove DK2, which dropped the outer glove layer of the DK1 and replaced velcro with magnetic straps, and said it would reach consumers in April 2024.[13] PlayStation VR2 support arrived in July 2024 in four games: Breachers, Legendary Tales, Hellsweeper VR and Big Shots. The vest and Tactosy armbands connect to the bHaptics smartphone app over Bluetooth, and the app forwards haptic data from the PlayStation 5.[14]
In April 2024 the TactSuit X40 and X16 received Meta's "Made for Meta" label, and bHaptics was the first haptic vest supplier to get it. MIXED reported that the vests would be sold through Meta's official store.[7]
2024 product refresh and later
On 12 November 2024 bHaptics announced its first new vest models since the 2020 X series: the TactSuit Pro at US$499, the TactSuit Air at US$249 and a redesigned TactSleeve armband pair at US$199. Pre-orders ran from 12 to 26 November 2024, and shipping began on 27 November.[15][9] UploadVR described the Pro as the replacement for the X40, the Air as the replacement for the X16, and the TactSleeve as the replacement for the Tactosy armbands.[6] In 2025 the company extended support to non-VR PC games, adding a SimHub plug-in for sim racing and an Overwolf integration.[10]
In 2026 bHaptics opened pre-orders for the TactGlove DK3, which UploadVR reported raises the haptic points per hand from six to eight by adding two contact points on the lower palm, at a pre-order price of US$385.[16] In late September 2026 the bHaptics store listed the DK3 at US$385 with an estimated shipping date of 1 October 2026.[17]
Funding
HelloDD reported in 2021 that Kolon, which had supported the KAIST laboratory Gwak belonged to, provided the company's initial seed funding, that it received a pre-Series A investment from Korea Science and Technology Holdings (KST) in 2017, and that it raised about 2 billion won in equity investment in 2019 from investors including AJU IB Investment and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation. The same report said that about 95% of the company's revenue came from outside Korea.[2] In January 2024 bHaptics closed a Series C round of 10 billion won, with KB Investment, KDB Korea Development Bank and Hana Ventures joining as new investors. The round brought its cumulative investment to 20 billion won.[18]
Products
| Product | Introduced | Body area | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tactosy (arms) | December 2018 | Forearms | Armband with six haptic points per arm (the first Tactosy was released in December 2016); later replaced by TactSleeve[10][14][6] |
| Tactosy for hands and feet | November 2017 | Hands, feet | bHaptics' store lists Tactosy for Feet as a discontinued item[10][19] |
| Tactal | November 2017 | Face | Haptic face interface[10] |
| Tactot DK1, DK2, DK3 | 2017-2019 | Torso | Development-kit haptic vests[10] |
| TactSuit X40 | November 2020 | Torso | 40 ERM motors; 9,800 mAh battery; US$500 at launch[4] |
| TactSuit X16 | November 2020 | Torso | 16 ERM motors; 4,900 mAh battery; 950 g; US$299 per bHaptics[4][5] |
| TactGlove DK1 | February 2023 | Hands | Haptic glove for camera-based hand tracking[10] |
| TactVisor | June 2023 | Face | Four ERM motors; 8 hours of playtime; works with Meta Quest 3, Quest 2, Valve Index and Rift S (some headsets need a third-party facial interface)[10][20] |
| TactGlove DK2 | May 2024 | Hands | No outer glove layer; magnetic straps[13] |
| TactSuit Pro | November 2024 | Torso | 32 motors; Controller Wheel intensity dial with LED ring; 13.5 hours of playtime; US$499 at launch[15][9] |
| TactSuit Air | November 2024 | Torso | 16 motors; Onyx and Ash colorways; 12 hours of playtime; US$249 at launch[15][9] |
| TactSleeve | November 2024 | Forearms | Three motors per arm; 185 g each; US$199 per pair at launch[15][6] |
| TactGlove DK3 | 2026 | Hands | Eight haptic points per hand (seven LRAs and one voice coil motor); Bluetooth LE; US$385[16][17] |
Prices have risen since launch. In July 2024 UploadVR listed the X16 at US$330, the X40 at US$530 and the Tactosy armbands at US$250.[14] In September 2026 bHaptics' comparison page listed the TactSuit Pro at US$565 and the TactSuit Air at US$320.[21]
TactSuit
Both of bHaptics' vests support audio haptics and embedded haptics. Audio haptics translate sound into vibration, and users can choose which frequencies they feel and which areas of the vest those frequencies activate. Embedded haptics come from the app itself, which sends feedback for events in the virtual world, such as the player being shot.[22]
The TactSuit X40 has the following features:
- 40 vibro-tactile motors (haptic sensors)
- 18 hours of battery life after charging for 5 hours
- 3.7 lbs
- audio can be linked wirelessly through Bluetooth or audio jack
The TactSuit X16 has the following features:
- 16 vibro-tactile motors (haptic sensors), some accuracy is lost compared to x40
- cheaper than the x40
- 22 hours of battery life after charging for 2.5 hours
- ergonomics very similar to x40 (same elastic straps and shoulder straps)
- apps compatible with x40 are compatible with x16
Road to VR reported that both X series vests use ERM motors spread across the front and back, connect over Bluetooth 4.0, and have an external audio port for games without native support. The X16 is shorter than the X40 so that it bunches up less when the wearer is seated.[4] In January 2024 the company said it had updated the X40 and X16 with quieter motors and a noiseless zipper.[13]
The TactSuit Pro, which replaced the X40, has 32 motors instead of 40 and adds a physical dial with an LED ring for adjusting haptic intensity. The TactSuit Air, which replaced the X16, keeps 16 motors.[6] bHaptics lists the Pro at 1.87 kg with up to 13.5 hours of playtime and the Air at 1.09 kg with up to 12 hours, and names Meta Quest 3, 3S and 2, PC VR through SteamVR, PlayStation console VR and non-VR PC games as supported platforms for both.[21]
Games
At CES 2021 bHaptics said that more than 50 SteamVR and Oculus Quest titles supported its vests, including Onward and Pavlov.[5] As of Sept 2021, there were 75 games that natively supported the TactSuit x40 or x16 in virtual reality. These games can be downloaded from SteamVR, Oculus (Quest and Rift), and SideQuest.[23] By January 2024 the count had passed 250 SteamVR and Meta Quest titles.[13] When the TactSuit Pro and Air launched in November 2024, UploadVR reported native support in over 100 Meta Quest games, over 200 PC VR games and nine PlayStation VR2 titles.[6]
Glove support is narrower. In its 2026 hands-on with the TactGlove DK3, UploadVR counted about 11 supported applications, including Half-Life: Alyx and Synth Riders, and wrote that developer adoption of glove support had been slower than bHaptics wanted.[16]
Installation
bHaptics publishes video setup guides, including one for using the TactSuit's audio-to-haptics mode with game consoles.[24]
The suit's audio haptics can translate the sound of console games, not only VR games, into haptic feedback. On Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo Switch, for instance, the user plugs an aux cable into the back of the TactSuit and connects a Y-splitter to the other end of the cable. One end of the splitter goes into the console device and the other into the user's headphones. The TactSuit has to be paired over Bluetooth through the bHaptics mobile app before the audio is connected.[24]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Kiuk Gwak". AWE USA 2023. Augmented World Expo. https://www.awexr.com/usa-2023/speakers/5090-kiuk-gwak. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kim Hyo-won (2021-03-10). "세상에 없던 '햅틱슈트'로 창업... 글로벌 VR게임시장 호령". HelloDD. https://www.hellodd.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=91906. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Vive X Announces Second Batch Of Companies To Join Global Accelerator Program". PR Newswire. HTC Vive. 2017-03-27. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vive-x-announces-second-batch-of-companies-to-join-global-accelerator-program-300429309.html. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Scott Hayden (2020-11-09). "bHaptics Announces Pre-orders for TactSuit X Series Haptic Vests, Starting at $300". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/bhaptics-tactsuit-x-series-vest-pre-order-release/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "bHaptics to Showcase TactSuit X Series, Next-generation Haptic Suit at CES 2021". bHaptics. 2021-01-05. https://www.bhaptics.com/news/bhaptics-to-showcase-tactsuit-x-series-next-generation-haptic-suit-at-ces-2021/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 David Heaney (2024-11-13). "bHaptics Announces New Cheaper Haptic Vests & Armbands". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/bhaptics-tactsuit-pro-tactsuit-air-tactsleeve/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Josef Erl (2024-04-18). "Meta Quest 3 accessories: Haptic vests from bHaptics now carry the Made for Meta label". MIXED. https://mixed-news.com/en/meta-quest-3-accessories-haptic-vests-from-bhaptics-now-carry-the-made-for-meta-label/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "bHaptics Inc.". Welcon. Korea Creative Content Agency. https://welcon.kocca.kr/en/directory/company/bhaptics-inc--32. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "bHaptics Unveils Next-Gen TactSuit Pro and TactSuit Air with Enhanced Immersive Haptics". PR Newswire. bHaptics. 2024-11-13. https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/bhaptics-unveils-next-gen-tactsuit-pro-and-tactsuit-air-with-enhanced-immersive-haptics-302301950.html. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 "About bHaptics". bHaptics. https://www.bhaptics.com/en/about/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ Richard Lai (2017-07-02). "bHaptics' TactSuit is VR haptic feedback done right". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2017-07-02-bhaptics-tactsuit-vr-haptic-feedback-htc-vive-x-demo-day.html. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ Jamie Feltham (2021-12-27). "bHaptics Announces TactGlove $299 Haptic VR Gloves For Quest 2 And More". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/tactsuit-vr-gloves-bhaptics-announced/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Sam Sprigg (2024-01-17). "bHaptics announces TactSuit PS VR2 support and unveils new TactGlove DK2". Auganix. https://www.auganix.org/vr-news-bhaptics-announces-tactsuit-ps-vr2-support-and-unveils-new-tactglove-dk2/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 David Heaney (2024-07-17). "bHaptics TactSuit Now Works On PlayStation VR2". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/bhaptics-tactsuit-playstation-vr2-suport/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Scott Hayden (2024-11-12). "bHaptics Reveals Revamped Lineup of Haptic Accessories for VR, Pre-orders Now Live". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/bhaptics-new-tactsuit-vr-haptic-pre-orders/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Mike Johnson (2026-07-03). "Hands-In: bHaptics TactGlove DK3 Is An Incredible Accessory In Need Of Support". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/hands-in-bhaptics-tactglove-dk3-is-an-incredible-accessory-in-need-of-support/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "TactGlove DK3". bHaptics. https://www.bhaptics.com/tactsuit/tactglove-dk3/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ Kim Seok-jin (2024-01-22). "XR 촉각 솔루션 '비햅틱스' 100억 원 시리즈C 투자 유치". Startup Today. https://www.startuptoday.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=48206. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ "Tactosy for Feet". bHaptics. https://www.bhaptics.com/en/tactsuit/tactosy-for-feet/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ "TactVisor". bHaptics. https://www.bhaptics.com/tactsuit/tactvisor/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Compare TactSuit". bHaptics. https://www.bhaptics.com/en/tactsuit/compare/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 bHaptics. "bHaptics Tactsuit X40&X16 Overview". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PBbQLPwyd4&t=118s. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
- ↑ https://www.bhaptics.com/experiences/vr
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 bHaptics. "Guide - How to use your console with Audio-to-Haptics". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUO3xxpcK_4. Retrieved 2026-09-29.