Meta Platforms, the company formerly known as Facebook, could be headed for an ugly fight with HaptX, a Seattle-based maker of haptic gloves for use in AR and VR. On Tuesday HaptX claimed Meta’s key haptic feedback tech for AR and VR was “substantively identical” to its own.
This wouldn’t be the first time Meta has been accused of copying hardware tech—remember the high-profile case between Oculus and ZeniMax, which was eventually settled for an undisclosed sum. And it undercuts the idea I put forward on Tuesday that Meta’s work on haptic feedback gloves might be where the company’s AR/VR division is breaking the most new ground. If these similarities are more than superficial, the question would then be whether Meta has much if any AR/VR hardware to show that is truly unique in its field.