AI with a sense of touch. Overcoming spatial limitations for remote surgery, factory control, etc. [CES 2025]
Korean daily Munhwa Ilbo reports from CES 2025 on the rise of 'AI haptic' technology, spotlighting Haply Robotics' MinVerse — a portable 3D device that lets users feel virtual objects, with applications from remote surgery to factory control.
Originally published on haply.co — the canonical version of this article.
Science fiction arrives at CES 2025
Reporting from Las Vegas for Munhwa Ilbo, journalist Kim Seong-hun opened his CES 2025 coverage with two film references: the gesture-controlled screens of Minority Report and the remotely piloted, fully sensing avatar of Avatar. At the Venetian Hotel exhibition halls, he found a wave of products edging close to those once-fictional technologies — driven by haptics merging with artificial intelligence into what the article calls an “AI haptic universe,” with commercialization of digital-interaction products imminent across healthcare, architecture, gaming, and beyond.
MinVerse in the spotlight
The article names the portable 3D device MinVerse, developed by Canadian startup Haply Robotics, as the most notable AI haptic technology at this year’s CES. Using an AI haptic engine, the MinVerse delivers corresponding tactile signals when a user grabs or pushes a virtual object, making it feel similar to handling a real one. The coverage notes that the MinVerse won a CES Best Innovation Award for breaking down the boundary between digital and physical and providing a more immersive experience.
From surgical rehearsal to digital twins
The piece highlights how broadly the technology can apply — medicine, design, education, and games. In the medical field, doctors could rehearse surgery through virtual simulations, with AI analyzing anatomical data in real time while haptics reproduces the feel of surgical tools. Combined with a digital twin, the same approach can control industrial robots; combined with holograms, the article suggests, spatially intuitive manipulation straight out of Minority Report could arrive in the near future.
Read the original coverage
The full article (in Korean) is available on Nate News.