Manuel Cruz Appointed Chairman of the Board
and President of the Haptics Industry Forum
(Beaverton, Oregon – February 27, 2024): The Haptics Industry Forum (“HIF”), a global consortium representing the interests of the haptics industry, proudly announces the appointment of Dr. Manuel Cruz of Innovobot as Chairman of the Board and President of HIF, succeeding Robert Desautels. Manuel is a distinguished engineer, innovator, entrepreneur, and a global leader in haptics, with over 25 years of groundbreaking contributions in Human Machine Interface (HMI) and haptics research. He has been assuming his role since September 13, 2023.
Dr Cruz has been a pioneering force in haptic technology, notably co-developing early haptic feedback technology for cell phones in the early 2000s. His expertise spans diverse industries, having engineered haptic solutions for medical, automotive, gaming, XR, and mobility products. A renowned inventor, Dr. Cruz is named in over 250 US-granted and pending patents encompassing sensing, actuation and control technologies.
As the Chief Scientist and Head of Innovobot’s Human Machine Interface Lab, Manuel Cruz has championed groundbreaking advancements in HMI and haptics and is committed to transforming industries and elevating the user experience with engaging haptic experiences. His strategic leadership and extensive experience will be instrumental in guiding the development of the HIF, growing its membership in an effort to unite the global Haptics ecosystem, and set a vision and elevate the standards in Haptics innovation. Manuel also leads the Touchpad working group, an initiative he recently launched.
“The opportunity to lead the Haptics Industry Forum represents an exciting chance to further propel our industry’s evolution,” expressed Dr. Cruz. “I am dedicated to fostering collaboration among industry stakeholders, advancing standards, and amplifying the role of haptic technology across diverse sectors.”
Manuel’s appointment aligns with HIF’s mission to address industry-wide challenges, promoting haptics as an integral facet of human-machine interface experiences and provide the unified, consistent voice of the haptics industry to the wider technology ecosystem. His track record in innovation and user-centric design philosophy will reinforce the Forum’s commitment to enhancing user experiences through haptic technology.
ABOUT THE HAPTICS INDUSTRY FORUM
The Haptics Industry Forum is a consortium that represents the interests of the haptics industry. It’s a group of entities in the haptics industry that includes hardware manufacturers, middleware providers, application developers, researchers, and others who work across all levels of the haptic stack. Members of the Haptics Industry Forum are committed to working together to develop and support haptic standards in ways that enable the market, including licensing, quality and performance metrics, APIs, codecs, and more. Visit www.hapticsif.org
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Manuel Cruz
Innovobot Labs