Generating funding for virtual reality (VR) and other immersive technology-related projects can be somewhat hit and miss. It’s certainly not an easy proposition for many. Yet for every cancelled Kickstarter and canned project there is a developer or studio who acquire funding from either the public, specific organisations or private hedge funds/investors.
The latest company to announce the success of a seed funding round is Japanese company exiii Inc. The Tokyo-based firm are the developers of EXOS – a haptic wearable device which enables users to touch virtual objects inside both VR and augmented reality (AR) environments. (Something which VRFocus reported on just over a month ago.)
exiii have revealed a substantial investment as a result of their fundraising efforts, having secured approximately $750,000 (USD)/¥80,000,000 (JPY) from the from venture capital firm Global Brain Corporation (GB) and their GB-VI Growth Fund Investment Limited Partnership. The money will be used to help strengthen the company’s haptics department for research and development as well as fund other activities related to the development and marketing of the EXOS DK1.
“We are very excited that we were able to raise capital right after the release of the EXOS DK1.” Commented exiii’s Co-Founder and CEO Hiroshi Yamaura “As VR/AR technologies become more common, haptics technology will play a critical role in terms of enabling a more intuitive approach to computing. We will strive to make haptic technology a standard component of next generation VR/AR.”
“Since the predominant technologies utilized in VR/AR are limited to audio-visual, VR/AR has not been able to realize its full potential.” Added Yamaura’s opposite number at GB, Yasuhiko Yurimoto. “exiii possesses both advanced haptics enabling technologies and experience in rapidly prototyping various wearable devices. We believe these strengths will enable exiii to target various domains and thus are excited for exiii’s growth. [At] GB, we will assist in exiii’s growth both domestically and internationally.”
VRFocus will bring you more news on the continued developments at exiii Inc regarding the EXOS DK1 as we get them, as well as news from the ever-developing haptics industry. For the latest news on everything related to haptics click here.
via Mint VR