Gleechi release VirtualGrasp technology to enable developers to add natural hand interaction to Virtual Reality apps

Gleechi AB, an award-winning developer of interactive Virtual Reality solutions, has today announced that VirtualGrasp, a hardware-agnostic pure software solution that provides natural hand interaction, is now widely available for third-party developers to upgrade their VR experiences.

VirtualGrasp is based on over eight years of research, initially in the field of advanced robotics and converging into a comprehensive developer offering for creating more natural Virtual Reality hand interaction experiences.

VirtualGrasp leverages a cloud-based intelligence engine to develop a unique understanding of objects and how they can be grasped and used. By applying VirtualGrasp technology, developers can save countless hours of manual work to create natural-looking grasps, with drag-and-drop grasp creation seamlessly integrated into workflows.

Users of VR apps that leverage VirtualGrasp technology experience the freedom of natural hand interaction, leading to more immersive and engaging experiences. VirtualGrasp has been proven to enhance the VR experience for users through user testing, including a 45% increase in how realistic the virtual hands feel to control and a 42% increase in how natural the interaction with the VR environment feels.

“We identified the need for a better approach to interaction early on, building technology to address the challenges in giving robots the capability to grasp objects intelligently.

As Virtual Reality continues to rapidly gain momentum, VirtualGrasp has built on a proven industrial foundation and evolved to meet the need for more natural hand interaction.

Compared to hardware solutions in the market that try to address natural hand interaction through more accurate finger tracking devices, VirtualGrasp takes an entirely different approach towards the intelligent understanding of objects. This approach facilitates more natural hand interactions and through being hardware-agnostic, does not limit the users or developers to any specific sensors or VR controller hardware.

I am delighted to be able to empower developers with the tools to build more compelling VR experiences.”
Kai Hübner, Chief Technology Officer, Gleechi

“We believe that VirtualGrasp technology will play an important role in providing more immersive Virtual Reality experiences and facilitate the vision of VR being a core component of the next phase of the Internet evolution.

How we interact with the apps and services we depend upon daily is fundamental, and our shared objective is to make the mechanics of interaction seamless.

VirtualGrasp makes no assumptions around how hand interactions are captured, through controllers or any other means, and is designed to give users an experience that is so natural and intuitive that the technology becomes transparent.”
Dan Song, Head of R&D, Gleechi

The VirtualGrasp SDK (Software Development Kit) is available through the Gleechi early access programme, available through application at www.gleechi.com/virtualgrasp