MinVerse: The Future of Haptic Interaction – Exclusive Interview
Imagine sculpting digital clay and actually feeling every ridge and groove beneath your fingertips. Or designing furniture by touching and testing virtual materials before they ever exist in the real world. What if gaming wasn’t just immersive visually, but physically, where you feel the tension of a bowstring or the pushback of a heavy door?
This is the world of MinVerse, a groundbreaking haptic device that just won CES 2025 Best of Innovation in the Metaverse and XR categories. Unlike traditional controllers or 3D mice, MinVerse brings true force-feedback, letting users physically feel and manipulate virtual objects with unparalleled realism.
In this exclusive interview, we dive into what makes MinVerse a game-changer for digital interaction, its incredible use cases, and what’s next for the future of haptics. If you’ve ever dreamed of experiencing digital worlds through touch, this is a must-read.
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Michael (GizmoCrowd): The MinVerse has been awarded CES 2025 Best of Innovation in the Metaverse and XR categories. What makes this device a game-changer in the world of digital interaction?
Colin Gallacher: You walk through a jungle when suddenly, you start sinking, thick quicksand pulling you deeper. The force clings to every movement as you try to claw your way free, struggling against its grip.
You run your hands over different materials while designing your next furniture collection, feeling each weave of fabric and grain of wood, each surface distinct and rich with detail.
In the studio, you sculpt in a meditative flow of movement, the clay molds and shapes beneath your touch. You feel every ridge and groove as the material forms, responding as if it were alive in your hands.
These experiences are no longer limited to the physical world, they now exist within the MinVerse.
The MinVerse is redefining how we interact with digital environments by bringing precision haptics to the desktop in an affordable, compact, and intuitive form. Unlike conventional 3D mice, VR controllers, or graphics tablets, the MinVerse provides real-time force feedback, allowing users to physically feel and manipulate virtual objects with an unprecedented level of control. From creative design work to immersive gaming, the MinVerse brings the digital world into your hands. What was once just pixels on a screen is now a vivid sensory reality.
This is a monumental leap forward – one that has to be felt to be believed.
Michael: Unlike a traditional mouse, the MinVerse offers realistic haptic feedback. Can you explain how this technology allows users to feel textures, weights, and resistances in digital environments?
Colin Gallacher: At its core, the MinVerse uses precision actuators and sophisticated haptic/force-feedback algorithms to simulate touch-based interactions in virtual and 3D environments. But what makes it truly special is how it intelligently adapts to different materials and physical forces in real time.
Based on what kind of object or material you’re interacting with, whether it’s a soft fabric, a rigid metal surface, or a dynamic, shifting force like water or quicksand, the MinVerse calculates how that material would behave in the real world when pushed, pulled, or moved in different directions, and responds accordingly using finely tuned force-feedback.
The MinVerse isn’t just sending a simple vibration – it actively resists, assists, or adapts to your movements based on the properties of the object you’re interacting with.
For example:
- Quicksand feels smooth when you move through it slowly, but hardens when you push fast, resisting your escape.
- Velvet is softer when brushed in one direction, while slightly rougher in the other.
- Magnets create a pulling force when you’re close but push against you when you try to pull away.
- Jelly-like substances introduce elasticity, pushing back with increasing force the more you compress them.
The MinVerse’s real-time force-feedback algorithms calculate these interactions with high precision, creating an experience that is not just an illusion, but an actual, physical response.
Michael: The MinVerse is designed for 3D designers, gamers, and tech creators. What are some of the most exciting use cases you envision, and how does it enhance workflows across different industries?
Colin Gallacher: One of the most exciting aspects of the MinVerse is its limitless potential. More than just a tool, it’s a gateway to a new way of interacting with digital environments – one that feels as natural as working with your own hands.
Imagine this:
- Sculpting in Blender or ZBrush and actually feeling the density of your materials. As you carve, mold, and refine your model, you can sense every ridge and groove beneath your fingertips, making digital sculpting as intuitive as working with real clay.
- Building game environments where instead of simply clicking and dragging, you physically place objects, adjust terrain, and fine-tune camera angles with tactile precision, feeling surfaces snap together like puzzle pieces.
- Controlling a drone remotely, where instead of relying solely on visuals, you can feel the shift of the wind against your craft, sense object proximity before a collision, and even gauge terrain textures beneath its landing gear, as if you were physically there, guiding it with your own hands.
- Diving into XR gaming, where you don’t just see your virtual world, you experience it. Pull back a bowstring and feel the tension build, grip a weapon and sense its recoil, push against a heavy door and struggle against its weight. Every interaction becomes more immersive, more lifelike.
- Exploring new frontiers in education and accessibility, where students can physically interact with digital models of ancient artifacts, biological structures, or mechanical systems, turning learning into a fully tactile experience. Imagine a person with motor impairments gaining new ways to engage with digital spaces through intuitive force-feedback controls.
With only 24 hours in a day, we’re still uncovering the countless ways the MinVerse can enhance workflows, creativity, and digital interaction. And that’s the beauty of it – this is just the beginning! As more creators, developers, and innovators integrate it into their work, we’ll continue to discover new, unexpected ways to bring the sense of touch into the digital world.
Michael: MinVerse comes with open-source APIs and is compatible with tools like Blender, RoboDK, and HARP. How important is community involvement in shaping the future of this product?
Colin Gallacher: Community involvement has been at the heart of the MinVerse since day one. We started with a question: “What would it look like if we did this?” That’s exactly what we asked in our very first video, inviting people to follow along on the journey. The response was overwhelming and it became clear that we weren’t the only ones who saw the potential for this technology. Watch the original video here.
Since then, we’ve made a conscious effort to bring our audience along for the ride,, from early prototypes to key design decisions, beta testing, and feature rollouts. We’ve asked for input on form factors, use cases, and software integrations. This isn’t just about selling a product, it’s about co-creating a future for haptic interaction with the people who will actually use it.
One of our biggest learnings? Marketing a touch-based experience is incredibly hard—how do you communicate the power of physical interaction through a visual medium? Unless you’ve worked with force-feedback haptics before, you likely don’t have a frame of reference. The reactions, questions, and insights from our videos and campaign have helped us refine how we explain not just our why, but more importantly, our what.
And this is just the beginning. As we fulfill orders, expand our software ecosystem, and explore new applications, we’ll continue to build this product alongside the community, because the MinVerse isn’t just our vision, it’s a shared one.
Michael: With its compact design and versatility, MinVerse seems like just the beginning. What’s next for MinVerse, and how do you see haptic technology evolving in the coming years?
Colin Gallacher: We’re already working on new software integrations, customizable accessories, and expanded compatibility to make the MinVerse a seamless tool for even more 3D applications. Whether you’re sculpting in ZBrush, designing in SolidWorks, animating in Maya, or developing in Unity, we’re ensuring that the MinVerse fits naturally into your workflow.
We’re also exploring accessories and attachments like 2D mouse adapters, VR headset handle adapters, and new VerseGrips to unlock even more immersive interactions for both creators and gamers.
Beyond hardware, 2025 will be a big year for real-world demos and events. We want people to experience the magic of MinVerse firsthand at major tradeshows, hackathons, and developer meetups.
Looking at the bigger picture, we believe that haptic technology is about to explode in importance.
During CES 2025, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang made waves by emphasizing the importance of Physical AI in the next era of technology.
We see huge potential for force-feedback haptics in:
- Training humanoid robots by simulating real-world interactions, with force.
- Enhancing Large Behavioral Models (LBMs) – AI that understands how humans physically interact with their environments.
- Advancing spatial computing, bridging the gap between virtual worlds and physical motion.
Simply put: Haptics is about to become an essential pillar of the future of AI, robotics, and immersive technology. And we’re laser-focused on leading the charge. Ultimately, our goal is to make haptic technology as ubiquitous and essential as the mouse or touchscreen.
Michael (GizmoCrowd): Thank you so much, Colin Gallacher, for taking the time to share your insights into MinVerse and the future of haptic interaction. It’s been incredible to learn about the innovation, community-driven development, and game-changing potential of this technology. Wishing you the best of luck with the campaign—I can’t wait to see how MinVerse transforms the way we experience digital worlds!
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The MinVerse isn’t just an innovation—it’s a revolution in how we interact with digital worlds. Whether you’re a 3D designer, a gamer, or a tech creator, the ability to physically feel textures, resistances, and forces in real-time opens up endless creative and functional possibilities.
With open-source APIs, wide compatibility, and a passionate community, MinVerse is just the beginning of a new era in haptic technology. And as AI, robotics, and spatial computing evolve, force-feedback interactions like this will become essential to the future of digital experiences.
If you’re ready to step into a world where touch and technology merge, be part of the movement. Support MinVerse today and experience the future firsthand.
MinVerse: The Future of Haptic Interaction – a Kickstarter campaign by Haply Robotics Inc.
Imagine feeling textures, weights, and forces from your screen, as if they were in your hands. The MinVerse is a one-of-a-kind input device, similar to a computer mouse. It provides intuitive control and unmatched precision, allowing designers, artists, gamers, and tech enthusiasts to explore virtual environments naturally and efficiently.
About Haply Robotics Inc.
Bringing Touch to Technology | Amplifying human capability and creativity by bringing the precision and finesse of human touch to the virtual world. Awarded CES® 2025 ‘Best of Innovation’— Experience the 3D mouse that brings lifelike textures, forces, and immersion to your fingertips.