Emerge partners with Disney to bring multi-sensory communication to homes

Emerge has partnered with Disney to bring its multi-sensory communication platform — mainly the feeling of touch feedback — to the home.

The companies have signed a strategic multi-year engagement in an effort to make sensory experiences more tangible. This partnership is a major step forward in Emerge‘s mission to create a new paradigm for emotional connection across distance and time, in a world that is experiencing new levels of disconnection.

Emerge’s partnership with Disney will integrate beloved content into Emerge’s personal connection platform. Starting with one of Disney’s top franchises, fans will be able to share multi-sensory experiences and interact with friends and family across the world, from the comfort of home. This would enable users to physically feel a “virtual high five” or their favorite superpowers, with no gloves or controllers needed.

“For many fans of The Walt Disney Company, the fondest memories lie in the shared moments forged through the stories we’ve told over the past 100 years. Through our partnership with Emerge, we’re thrilled to leverage their technology platform to add a deeper level of ‘feeling’ to these stories and iconic moments that have only been left to the imagination—to experience directly in their homes,” said Eric Bautista, director of consumer products, games, and publishing at Disney, in a statement.

A personal connection platform – starting with touch, powered by emotion AI

The rise of generative AI and its integration with various sensory inputs and outputs opens a unique opportunity in the race for technologies that help strengthen connections across distance. Emerge is building a multi-sensory communication platform—through sight, touch, sound and brain activity, powered by emotion AI, Emerge said.

Emerge’s anchor product, Emerge Wave-1 was beta launched in 2022. Around the same footprint as a 13-inch laptop, it emits sculpted ultrasonic waves that allow users to feel and interact via touch in the virtual world. Through the use of Emerge’s patented technology, the Emerge Wave-1 creates a mid-air field of interaction up to three feet above the device and 120 degrees around it.

It allows users to communicate with increased social presence, spend time together, and physically connect with intuitive hand-to-hand tactile contact through mid-air, precise ultrasonic force fields. Soon, Emerge will also enable users to digitize and transmit their emotions in real-time, an approach that aims to establish a new standard for personal connection.

“A few years from now, we’ll look back at our current digital interactions the same way we see our carbon emissions. With 33% of the world population feeling disconnected from others, this loneliness epidemic is already one of the greatest life threats of our time. It’s time for a communication platform centered around what truly matters—our emotional connection with others. We are thrilled to partner with Disney to further our mission,” said Isaac Castro, Co-CEO at Emerge, in a statement.

Emerge is also engaging major consumer electronics brands aiming to set the foundation for the Emerge platform to support smart TVs, in addition to VR and AR headsets. As the adoption of internet-enabled TVs continues adding use cases such as streaming video, cloud gaming, and video calls, a new mode of interaction and engagement will be enabled through the sense of touch. This enhancement can provide a more immersive user experience, transforming the way viewers interact with digital content and each other, and shaping the future of communication and interactive media.

“The journey to forging a new consumer category isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. Announcement is the culmination of years of dedication and hard work of our team. In partnering with Disney, we align ourselves with a brand whose timeless storytelling has captivated audiences for a century. Together, we’re poised to transcend the limitations of current communication technology, leveraging the 1.3 billion smart TVs in homes worldwide,” said Sly Spencer-Lee, co-CEO at Emerge, in a statement.