Heise Online Explores Touch-Enabled Robot Control with Haply
Heise Online featured Haply Robotics during CES 2026, highlighting how our Inverse3 haptic interface can create a more direct connection between a human operator and a digital or robotic system.
The coverage demonstrated the difference between a conventional input device and a true force-feedback interface. Rather than only sending movement commands to a computer or robot, our haptic technology can also return physical information to the user.
What is haptic robot control?
Robot-control systems allow an operator to guide a machine through an interface.
In many systems, the operator relies on buttons, joysticks, screens, or camera feeds. These controls can communicate where the robot should move, but they may provide limited information about what the robot is physically experiencing.
Our haptic interfaces can add force feedback to that control loop.
As the operator moves the device, the robot or simulation follows the intended movement. When contact or resistance occurs, the system can translate that information into forces felt through the interface.
This creates a more connected relationship between the operator and the machine.
Three-dimensional movement and force feedback
Inverse3 is designed for three-dimensional input and programmable force feedback.
Unlike a conventional mouse, it allows movement through a three-dimensional workspace. The application can then respond with forces based on the user’s position and interaction.
Depending on the application, users may feel:
Contact with a virtual surface
Resistance from a digital boundary
Changes in simulated stiffness
Forces generated by a robotic interaction
Guidance along a defined path
The behaviour is controlled by the application and the way our haptic interface is integrated into the complete system.
Why physical feedback matters
Visual information is essential in robot control, but it may not communicate every part of the interaction.
An operator may be able to see that a robotic tool has reached an object without knowing how firmly it is pressing. A camera can show movement, but physical resistance may provide additional information about contact or obstruction.
Force feedback adds another communication channel.
This can support research and development in teleoperation, robotics research, remote manipulation, laboratory automation, industrial control, skills training, simulation, and human-guided robot learning.
Haptics does not replace cameras, sensors, or operator judgement. It complements them by communicating information physically.
Connecting robot control with simulation
Simulation is increasingly important in robotics development.
It allows teams to test interactions, build workflows, and repeat demonstrations in a controlled digital environment. When combined with a haptic interface, simulation can also provide physical feedback to the operator.
Our technology can be incorporated into compatible simulation and robot-control environments, allowing users to guide interactions while receiving programmed forces from the system.
This creates opportunities to explore new approaches to robot control, training, and human-machine collaboration.
Developing more intuitive robotic interfaces
As robots move into increasingly complex environments, the way people control and teach them will become more important.
At Haply, we are developing interfaces that allow operators to use natural three-dimensional movement while receiving physical information from the interaction.
By combining movement and force feedback, our haptic systems can help people understand not only where a robot is moving, but also how it is interacting with the environment.
View the original Heise Online coverage
This page summarizes Heise Online’s CES 2026 coverage of Haply Robotics and the Inverse3 haptic interface.
Original source
https://social.heise.de/@heiseonlineenglish/115852675678281337
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