Embodying Data Through Touch
The Haptic 9 Co. is dedicated to exploring and advancing the science of haptics. We research, develop, and design touch-based technologies that transform how people interact with information—enhancing accessibility, movement learning, and sensory communication across industries.
Elevating Touch in the Digital Realm
The Haptic 9 Co. is driven by a mission to integrate touch into digital environments. By crafting innovative products and experiences, we aim to transform the digital landscape beyond sight and sound. Our vision is to lead the way in creating tactile digital interactions, inspiring change and growth across industries.
What is Haptic Perception?
Tactile Sensations
The word haptic means, “of or relating to the sense of touch”. When you touch an object, up to 6 different mechanoreceptors in your skin detect surface features and thermoreceptors detect changes in temperature.
Proprioception
Meanwhile, proprioceptors in your muscles and joints provide information about the object’s shape, size, and how your hand is positioned around it, allowing for a comprehensive perception of the object.
Better Together
To fully perceive an object through touch, you need information about both the surface texture and the position of your hand relative to the object. Haptic perception is the combination of tactile (touch) sensations and proprioception (body position awareness).
Our Vision is Tactile
We envision a world where touch is an intelligent interface—where data flows into the body seamlessly through haptic technology. By pioneering new ways to experience information through touch, we aim to revolutionize learning, accessibility, and human interaction.
From Data to The Skin, with Love
At The Haptic 9 Co., we bridge the gap between technology and touch. Whether through research collaborations with institutions, product development for startup and corporate partners, or internal experiments and product launches, we push the boundaries of haptic feedback, movement learning, and accessibility to create intuitive new ways of interacting with the world.
What we Do
At the heart of our work is a deep passion for touch and movement. We are shaping the future of embodied digital communication, creating products and forging strategic partnerships in industries where haptics can be a game-changer. By integrating haptic design into ecosystems with strong synergies, we are redefining experiences, enhancing interactions, and driving 10x innovation.
1. Haptic Design
Designing intuitive interactions with touch.
2. Movement Learning
Digitizing the movement-learning economy.
3. Accessibility
Leveraging touch for the better benefit to all.
4. Wearables
Expanding human capacity with body-worn tech.
5. Education
Embracing new frameworks for teaching with touch.
Movement 9
Physical Therapy, Gamified!
Movement 9 is a software platform built to bridge the gap between physical therapy and at-home monitoring for expedited healing and better client outcomes.
Education is our DNA
Our team has been at the forefront of innovation in haptics for over a decade. We have found many fun and creative ways of sharing what we learned! Whether it’s creating the first wearables + haptics course offered to art and design undergraduates at Kansas City Art Institute, delivering TED Talks in Xiao, China for the World Cyber Games, or open the SXSW Pitch Awards performing a rap about haptics, produced by 2x Paralympian Markeith Price, our message remains the same: Haptic means touch; and touch will revolutionize the future of digital communications and experiences.
Music as Education
Exploring the opportunity to use non-traditional media formats as awareness and education channels, The Haptic 9 Co. is a register music publisher with the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers). Our founder, Keith Kirkland, is also a registered ASCAP recording artist under the moniker “Keithius”. We were invited to give our first performance as the opening for the SXSW ’23 Pitch Awards. Since then, we have been invited all over the world to perform as musical and educational talent for festivals and scientific conferences. Take a listen below and feel free to leave a comment about what you think. If you love it, reach out to book a performance or a talk.
Building “the 9 Bridges” to a ubiquitous haptic world
At The Haptic 9 Co., we believe that haptics has the power to revolutionize how humans interact with technology. But to create a world where touch-based interfaces are as common and intuitive as visual and audio interactions, we must overcome opportunity-opening challenges in adoption, accessibility, and innovation.
The 9 Bridges is our strategic framework for tackling these opportunities—9 fundamental areas of focus that will enable a future where haptics are accessible, affordable, and approachable. Each bridge represents a core challenge and opportunity in the advancement of haptic technology, spanning from realistic sensory immersion and standardization to sustainability and cultural integration.
By addressing these 9 domains, we are laying the groundwork for a haptic ecosystem that is scalable, inclusive, and transformative across industries like healthcare, gaming, design, accessibility, and beyond. Whether you’re a researcher, movement practitioner, developer, innovator, or investor, we invite you to join us in profitably bridging the gap to the haptic future.
Downloading Kung Fu
“My dream is simple. I want to build a world where any person can download any movement anywhere in the world and learn it by putting it directly into their body using haptics. I also want to build a world where the person who provided that movement has the ability to earn equity and passive income from the use of their movement data.”
-Keith Kirkland, Founder + CEO
Need a Partner?
We are deeply excited to support our corporate, non-profit, and government partners with research, development and deployment initiatives related to the future of touch, movement learning, wearables, accessibility and design. We help organizations bring innovative haptic concepts to market. With 10+ years of experience working with haptics and wearables space, you can trust that we know what we are doing. But don’t take our word for it. Listen to our CEO, Keith Kirkland (a 2x founder), share our vision for creating a world where we “embody data through touch”.
The Haptic 9 Co.