Haptics Industry Forum

What Haptics Industry Forum does

The Haptics Industry Forum (HIF), legally Haptics Industry Forum, Inc., is a non-profit standards consortium founded in December 2019 and domiciled in California, USA, with a mailing address in San Francisco. HIF develops industry standards, APIs, codecs, performance metrics, and implementation guides for haptic technology (tactile feedback) across multiple verticals including automotive, XR (extended reality), gaming, mobile, wearables, touchpad/input devices, and accessibility applications. The organization operates through six active working groups (Automotive, XR, Gaming, Touchpad, Protocols and APIs, and SpeVA Actuation measurements) that meet regularly to produce recommended practices, reference designs, and specification proposals. HIF holds formal liaison relationships with the Khronos Group (for OpenXR standards integration), IEEE P2861.3 (mobile platform APIs), MPEG (where haptics is being treated as a first-order media type alongside video and audio), and is pursuing formal liaison status with ISO. The organization has published a book titled "Haptics in XR: Implementation and Design Guidelines," recommended practices documents for Automotive and Enterprise VR, and a Haptics Gaming SDKs Market Survey.

HIF's business model is membership-based, with five annual subscription tiers ranging from a free Community membership (for individuals, non-profits, and academia) to a $10,000 Principal membership, plus intermediate Associate ($250), Supporter ($1,500), and Member Contributor ($5,000) levels. Membership benefits scale with tier and include working group participation rights, proposal and voting rights in standards ratification, eligibility to chair working groups, HIF logo usage on products, and industry discounts; a 25% discount is offered for three-year commitments. The customer base is the haptic technology ecosystem itself: hardware manufacturers (e.g., Immersion, AAC Technologies, Cirque, D-BOX), middleware providers (e.g., Interhaptics/Razer), platform players (Microsoft, Dell via board representation), academic researchers (e.g., Hamburg University of Technology), and application developers in gaming, XR, and automotive cockpits. Revenue is not disclosed, and the organization reports 51-100 employees. Governance rests with a member-elected Board of Directors, currently chaired by Dr. Manuel Cruz of Innovobot, with leadership represented across hardware, middleware, platform, and academic stakeholders.

Name

Haptics Industry Forum

Legal name

Haptics Industry Forum, Inc.

Website

https://hapticsif.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Haptics Industry Forum is a non-profit global consortium that develops industry standards, APIs, and recommended practices for haptic technology, serving hardware manufacturers, middleware providers, application developers, and researchers across automotive, XR, gaming, and related verticals via tiered membership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: The Haptics Industry Forum generates revenue through tiered annual membership fees ranging from free community membership to $10,000 principal membership, based on organization size and participation level. Membership tiers include Community (Free), Associate ($250), Supporter ($1,500), Member Contributor ($5,000), and Principal ($10,000) annually.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

HIF is a global standards development organization (consortium) that develops and disseminates industry standards, APIs, performance metrics, codecs, recommended practices, and implementation guides for haptic technology. The organization offers tiered membership providing hardware manufacturers, middleware providers, application developers, and researchers access to working groups, voting rights in standards development, and published industry resources.

Product overview

The Haptics Industry Forum (HIF) is a global consortium that functions as a standards development organization rather than a product company. The organization offers membership tiers (Community, Associate, Supporter, Contributor, Principal) that provide access to working groups and voting rights. Its portfolio includes Recommended Practices Documents for Automotive and Enterprise VR haptics, published specifications and standards for haptic representation/coding and APIs, the 'Haptics in XR: Design and Implementation' book, and Working Groups focused on XR, Automotive, Gaming, Touchpad, Protocols/APIs, and SpeVA Actuation measurements. Additionally, HIF publishes market surveys such as the Haptics Gaming SDKs Market Survey. These offerings collectively support the haptics ecosystem through industry alignment, knowledge sharing, and standardization efforts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Haptics Industry Forum Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• Established liaison relationship with Khronos Group for OpenXR haptics API development
• +4 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• OpenXR ConsortiumcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 October 2022HIF submitted a high-level proposal for advanced haptics APIs to the OpenXR consortium, developed in collaboration with companies including Senseglove, Actronika, Interhaptics/Razer, AAC Technologies, and Immersion Corporation. The proposal covers full-body wearable and handheld haptics in 3D space with capabilities for real-time haptics updates, device-independent haptic targeting, multi-channel rendering, and wideband haptic effects.
• Khronos GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 June 2022HIF entered into a formal liaison agreement with Khronos Group, the organization maintaining open standards for 3D graphics, VR, AR, and extended reality. The partnership aims to integrate haptic technology into OpenXR standards and glTF working groups, ensuring OpenXR has sufficient API functionality and abstraction to support a wide range of haptic hardware capabilities. HIF established bi-weekly collaboration meetings with Khronos XR experts.
• IEEE (P2861.3 Working Group)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021HIF is engaged with IEEE P2861.3 group working on mobile platform API and presentation standards for haptics. The organization aligns its standards development efforts with IEEE activities to ensure interoperability across mobile platforms including Android and iOS.
• MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2019HIF members, led by Immersion, have been developing content standards in the MPEG context. Haptics is being considered as a first-order media type along with video and audio. MPEG has issued calls for proposals for coded representation of haptic signals and interactive haptic experiences as part of MPEG-Immersive. HIF is seeking formal liaison status with ISO to facilitate member contributions to MPEG.
• ISO (International Standards Organization)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHIF is seeking formal liaison status with ISO to facilitate contributions from HIF members to MPEG standards development activities. All MPEG ad-hoc group activities are open to participation from people with haptic expertise regardless of ISO or MPEG membership status.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF): USB-IF is the standards body that maintains the USB specification and certification program. It is comparable to HIF in promoting device interoperability through a member-funded consortium with tiered membership and working group deliverables.
• Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF): The IETF develops open technical standards for the internet through working groups and rough consensus. It is comparable to HIF in its open working-group model, focus on interoperability specifications, and member-driven governance.
• Bluetooth SIG: Bluetooth SIG is a member-driven consortium that develops and licenses a wireless technology standard. It is comparable to HIF in operating model (member-funded, tiered dues, working groups) and in building interoperability specs adopted by a hardware ecosystem.
• IEEE Standards Association: IEEE SA is a much larger, established standards body that overlaps with HIF through the P2861.3 working group on mobile platform haptics APIs. It is a broader incumbent in the standards ecosystem with overlapping scope on haptics interoperability.
• MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group): MPEG is an ISO/IEC working group developing standards for coded representation of audio, video, and — newly — haptics. It is comparable to HIF as a standards body HIF is actively working with to have haptics recognized as a first-order media type alongside video and audio.
• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): W3C is a major international standards organization for the World Wide Web. It is comparable to HIF as a member-funded standards body with working groups that produce specifications adopted globally by technology vendors.
• Wi-Fi Alliance: Wi-Fi Alliance is a global non-profit consortium certifying Wi-Fi interoperability across vendors. Comparable to HIF in member-driven governance, certification-style deliverables, and the role of acting as a neutral convening body for hardware interoperability.

Direct peers

• Khronos Group: Khronos Group is the most direct peer — a non-profit consortium developing open standards for 3D graphics, XR, and parallel computing. HIF has a formal liaison with Khronos specifically to integrate haptics into OpenXR, making it the closest analog in mission, governance, and member-driven standards work.

Emerging players

• Web3D Consortium: Web3D Consortium develops standards for 3D graphics on the web, including X3D. It is comparable to HIF as a smaller, specialized standards consortium that works with active haptics-adjacent standards bodies (Khronos, ISO) and serves a similar member-communities role.
• Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF): OCF is a member-driven industry group developing interoperability standards for IoT devices. It is comparable to HIF as a smaller, specialized consortium focused on device interoperability specifications in an emerging technology category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hapticsif
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hapticsif

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Haptics Industry Forum