Haptics Receiving Broad Recognition

Business Wire, Feb 20, 2008

Haptics Cited as Having High Growth Potential, Contributing to Personal Technology, and Providing the Greatest Impact on Electronic Design

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Immersion Corporation (Nasdaq:IMMR), a leading developer and licensor of haptics (touch feedback http://www.immersion.com/corporate/haptics/index.php) technology, announces that the benefits of its technology for human-computer interactions (HCI) have been recognized by several industry authorities.

Computerworld magazine named haptic feedback one of the top 10 trends in 2008 that will fuel "the best year ever in personal technology."(1) Its December 2007 article cited the long-standing use of haptics in video console games and stated that, in 2008, "haptics will help compensate for the disappearance of buttons in cell phones" and will "return to its roots by improving game play on cell phones."

Immersion's TouchSense([R]) components for portable devices, which provide tactile feedback in response to touchscreen interactions, won Electronic Design magazine's Best Electronic Design 2007 Competition in the Components/Displays/Touchscreen Technology category.(2) The awards point out the technologies judged by editors to be the most significant to advancing electronic design.

Immersion's VibeTonz([R]) technology for mobile phones was included in Hot Trends 40: Global Trends to See, a compilation of 40 rising global trends identified as having a high growth potential.(3) The 282-page book was published in January 2008 by Korea Trend Research Institute in cooperation with the International Design Trend Center.

"The recognition we've received from these and other distinguished authorities corroborates independent research and the real-world experiences of our customers," said Immersion CEO Victor Viegas. "Haptics can help improve the user experience for a broad range of products in many industries."

Research shows that haptic feedback (also known as tactile, touch, vibrotactile, or force feedback) has been found to:

* Increase user speed and accuracy(4)

* Reduce complication and stress(5-9)

* Improve user satisfaction(4,7,10)

More information on research performed by companies and universities can be found in the Immersion white paper The Value of Haptics, available at: http://www.immersion.com/valueofhaptics.php.> (1) Elgan, Mike. 2007. Personal Tech 2008: Top 10 Trends. Computerworld. December 31.

(2) Penton Media. 2007. Penton's Electronic Design Magazine Announces Winners of 'Best Electronic Design' Competition for 2007. December 10.

(3) The Korea Times. 2008. Recent Books: Hot Trends 40. January 4.

(4) Brewster, Stephen, Faraz Chohan, and Lorna Brown. 2007. Tactile Feedback for Mobile Interactions. Proceedings of CHI 2007.

(5) Wickens, Christopher D. 2002. Multiple resources and performance prediction. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science 3: 159-177.

(6) Burke, Jennifer L., Matthew S. Prewett, and Linda R. Elliot. 2006. Comparing the Effects of Visual-Audio and Visual-Tactile Feedback on User Performance: A Meta-analysis. International Conference on Multimodal Interfaces. Proceedings of the 8(th) International Conference on Multimodal Interfaces, 108-117.

(7) Poupyrev, Ivan, Shigeaki Maruyama, and Rekimoto Jun. 2002. Ambient Touch: Designing Tactile Interfaces for Handheld Devices. CHI Letters 4 (2): 51-60.

(8) Van Veen, Hendrik and J.B.F. Van Erp. 2001. Tactile Information Presentation in The Cockpit. Proceedings of the 1(st) International Workshop on Haptic Human-Computer Interaction, 174-181.

(9) Brown, Lorna M. and John Williamson. 2003. Shake2Talk: Multimodal Messaging for Interpersonal Communication. CHI '03 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, 854-855.

(10) Serafin, Colleen, Ranier Heers, Michael Tschirhart, Chris Ullrich, and Christophe Ramstein. 2007. User Experience in the U.S. and Germany of In-Vehicle Touch Screens with Integrated Haptic and Auditory Feedback. Proceedings of SAE World Congress 2007.

About Immersion (www.immersion.com)

Founded in 1993, Immersion Corporation is a recognized leader in developing, licensing, and marketing digital touch technology and products. Using Immersion's advanced touch feedback technology (http://www.immersion.com/corporate/products/), electronic user interfaces can be made more productive, compelling, entertaining, or safer. Immersion's technology is deployed across automotive, entertainment, industrial controls, medical training, mobility, and three-dimensional simulation markets. Immersion's patent portfolio includes over 700 issued or pending patents in the U.S. and other countries.

About Computerworld (www.computerworld.com)

Computerworld is recognized worldwide as the premier source for news, information, and opinion on the critical technology and management issues affecting senior technology professionals. In the past five years alone, Computerworld has won more than 100 awards, including the 2004 and 2006 Magazine of the Year Award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Computerworld has an online audience of over 1.1 million unique monthly visitors and a total print audience of 1.3 million. Computerworld is a business unit of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading technology media, research, and events company.