Immersion, I hang out over at MVIS but....
FYI
This is off subject, however, when one is considering full immersive virtual reality not only do you have to have precise 3-D graphics but also 3-dimensional audio sound and a force feedback system in order to provide tactile information of your virtual world. Microvision is the key to the visualization. The company, which I think it can provide the forced feedback component, is Immersion. As I was an investor in Microvision prior to its IPO, I am also an investor in Immersion. Immersion is going to have its IPO today or tomorrow, the NASDAQ symbol will be IMMR.
I have followed this company closely for the last 3 years. Its founder, a brilliant Stanford University graduates, Louis Rosenberg, has guided this small company in a very successful manner. They have increased their revenues to approximatly $5 million. They have real products, currently licensed to major corporations such as Logitech and have signed a partnership with Microsoft. Approximatly a year and half ago, Intel Corporation purchased a 5% share in Immersion. For those of you who believe in the long-term prospects of virtual reality this will be a key component. I believe this company is going to be highly successful.
Rob
Mousing with Good Vibrations
Wired News Report
3:00 a.m. 11.Aug.1999 PDT
It's time to put more feeling into pointing and
clicking.
Web users will soon have a new mouse to help
them do so. Logitech announced Tuesday it will
release a US$99 mouse using "FEELit," a
technology developed by Immersion
Corporation.
See also: Exterminating Mechanical Mice
FEELit adds a sensation of tactile feeling to
onscreen mouse movement, enabling users to
physically interact with on-screen components of
Web pages and software.
The primary market for the Logitech's Wingman
Force Feedback Mouse, which is due to ship in
December, will be gaming. Tactile feedback has
been used in joysticks that reflect inertial forces
experienced in jet flight or driving simulations.
"We are bringing high-fidelity feel simulation to
mass markets," says Louis Rosenberg,
Immersion's president. "A good user interface
will no longer just look good, it will feel good --
intuitive and satisfying, just like the real world."
But Logitech and Immersion want to carry the
concept to other mouse-intensive applications.
From Web surfing to graphic design and
business applications, the company thinks tactile
feedback can be tied to productivity
enhancement.
Logitech envisions users feeling the cursor
interact with points, lines, and curves as they
draw a 2-D image in a design program.
Contours, surfaces, textures, and edges could
provide similar sensations in 3-D rendering.
Icons on a user's computer desktop could have
weight, and the user could sense them sliding
across the screen. Big files might feel heavier
than small ones.
Products on commerce sites could have a 3-D
sense of shape and texture, the company says.
Car buyers could run their mouse over the
vehicle's sleek lines. Educational software could
convey a physical sense of gravity, friction,
inertia, and magnetism.
Software developers who want to add feel
sensations to applications in development can
download programming tools at Immersion's
> From IPO.COM
Snapshot Profile • The Company • The Offering
IMMERSION CORPORATION
Provider of "touch" technologies for computers
2158 PARAGON DRIVE
SAN JOSE, CA 95131
Phone: (408) 467-1900
immerse.com
Company Vitals
1998 Revenue:
$5,021,000
1998 Net Income (Loss):
($1,673,000)
Fiscal Year End:
12/3
Employees 51
Exp. Pricing Date:
Nov. 10 Proposed Symbol:
IMMR
Expected Price:
$9.00 to $11.00
Total Shares:
4,250,000
<< More About The Company
IMMERSION CORPORATION
Business Description
We are the leading provider of technologies that enable users to interact with computers using their sense of touch. Our solution enables computer
peripheral devices such as mice and joysticks to deliver compelling tactile sensations that correspond to on-screen events. Our feel technology
includes a combination of sophisticated hardware and software designs, for which we hold 33 U.S. patents and have over 100 additional patent
applications pending in the U.S. and abroad. We currently license our technologies to peripheral device manufacturers including Logitech,
Microsoft and InterAct. Our objective is to proliferate our feel technology across markets, platforms and applications so that feel becomes as
common as graphics and sound in the modern computer interface. Early computers had crude user interfaces that only displayed text and numbers.
In the 1980s computers began to use graphics and sound to engage users' perceptual senses more naturally, leading to the popularization of the
video game, the graphical user interface and the Web. By presenting content in ways that engage the senses more fully, computers were
"humanized," becoming more personal, less intimidating and easier to use. While most modern computers realistically present information to the
senses of sight and sound, they still lack the ability to convey content through the sense of touch. The absence of touch is a substantial barrier to
making computer use more natural and intuitive. We develop and license affordable technologies that allow users to touch and feel computer
content. Our patented designs incorporate specialized hardware elements such as motors, control electronics and mechanisms into computer
peripheral devices. Driven by sophisticated software algorithms, these hardware elements direct tactile sensations to the user's hand. We offer a
complete technical solution to our licensees and to software and Web developers. Our technologies comply with leading hardware and software
standards including Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface. We are focusing our initial marketing
and business development activities on the computer entertainment and mainstream computing markets. In 1996 we introduced I-FORCE, our
feel technology designed for entertainment peripherals such as joysticks, steering wheels and game pads. We currently license I-FORCE to 16
manufacturing partners, including Logitech, Microsoft and InterAct. To target the mainstream computing market, we developed FEELit, a feel
technology designed for cursor control products such as mice and trackballs. Our first FEELit licensee, Logitech, has announced that it will begin
shipping feel-enabled mice in late 1999. We also license our technologies and sell products into industrial, medical and scientific markets.
Use Proceeds
The proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate purposes, capital expenditures and working capital.
Competitors
We are aware of several companies that claim to possess feel technology applicable to the consumer market, but we do not believe that these
companies or their licensees have introduced feel-enabled products. Several companies also currently market force feedback products to
non-consumer markets and may shift their focus to the consumer market. In addition, our licensees may develop products that compete with
products employing our feel technology but are based on alternative technologies. Many of our licensees, including Microsoft and Logitech, and
other potential competitors have greater financial and technical resources to draw upon in developing computer peripheral technologies that do
not make use of our feel technology. Our competitive position is partially dependent on our licensees' competitive positions. Our licensees'
markets are highly competitive. We believe that the principal competitive factors in our licensees' markets include price, performance,
user-centric design, ease of use, quality and timeliness of products, as well as the manufacturer's responsiveness, capacity, technical abilities,
established customer relationships, retail shelf space, advertising, promotion programs and brand recognition. Feel-related benefits may be viewed
as enhancements, and products incorporating our feel technology might face competition from computer peripheral devices that are not
feel-enabled as well as from peripheral devices which use simple vibration technology, sometimes referred to as "dual shock" or "rumble shock."
Semiconductor companies, including Intel and Mitsubishi, manufacture products that compete with the I-FORCE and FEELit processors but which
have not been optimized specifically for feel technology. We are not aware of any companies that currently produce optimized feel processors.
There are several companies that currently sell high-end simulation products that compete with our professional and medical products. The
principal bases for competition in these markets are technological sophistication and price. We believe we compete favorably on these bases.
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