Remember our February/March articles on the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show? Two of those articles mentioned HapWare, winner of the CTA Foundation Health Innovation Challenge.
A quick recap: HapWare’s wearable assistive technology, ALEYE, will be available to visually impaired and neurodivergent consumers within a few months. ALEYE translates “body language” into tactile vibrations (haptics) for users who can’t see or understand visual cues. Since most people convey a lot through gestures and facial expressions, a visual-language translator has great potential for improving face-to-face (and video) communications.
On Friday, April 24, HapWare CEO Jack Walters visited BridgingApps to share an in-person demo with our BridgingApps team and clients.
The Vision That Made HapWare
HapWare began in 2023 as a “haptic design” project at the Colorado School of Mines. Walters, then a final-year student at the School, was on the project team; and the project was overseen by Dr. Bryan Duarte, a blind mentor and technology expert. (See the three-minute video, “From School Project to Company,” narrated by Walters.) The two went on to co-found HapWare in 2025, with Dr. Duarte as Chief Technology Officer.
(Trivia note: Duarte holds a Ph.D. in computer science, a success achieved by fewer than 30 blind people worldwide.)
Walters: HapWare was created from lived experience, research, and a deep understanding that nonverbal communication is not optional. We built HapWare around the belief that communication access should be universal, and that everyone deserves real-time access to nonverbal cues. Missing such information can negatively impact confidence, independence, relationships, education, and employment.
AI Handholding at Its Best
“Haptics” may be a new word to you, but everyone already uses them. If you’ve ever felt a phone ring in vibrate mode, or the buzz of a restaurant’s customer pager, that’s haptics: a pulsation that’s obvious to the user without distracting anyone else. Haptics can also vibrate in different patterns for different meanings, as with many gaming apps.
ALEYE takes things a step further: it’s a wristband (available in different colors and sizes) that recognizes outside gestures and “draws” gesture-translating patterns on the user’s arm. (For example, if someone smiles at the user, the haptics trace a simple “smile” arc: diagonally down from top left, a short horizontal line at the bottom, then diagonally up toward the right.) Most gestures take barely one-fourth of a second to translate.
Walters: We are not aware of any other wearable technology that gives users independent, real-time access to nonverbal cues through haptics. HapWare stands out because ALEYE is not simply describing the world through audio or captions: it translates nonverbal communication into touch instantly and privately, so users can stay present in the conversation. ALEYE is not just about detecting cues. It is about restoring access to parts of communication that many people have been forced to live without.
Ready-Set-Go!
ALEYE comes programmed for over two dozen patterns, customizable to individual users and situations. Guided training exercises are included.
Walters: In beta testing, ALEYE users were able to learn more than seven haptic cues in under five minutes, with 95% of patterns recognized after only 90 seconds of training. A new user pairs ALEYE to the app, enters the familiarization portal, taps different cues, and feels the vibration patterns associated with each one. From there, they can create custom presets for moments that matter to them: for example, job interviews, meetings, or social events.
Beta-user comments:
- “When I first felt the vibration sets and was able to interpret their meaning, it began to restore a long-lost depth of everyday communication.”
- “I’m totally blind, and lack of nonverbal cues often created awkward moments where I didn’t know how to respond. ALEYE is changing that.”
Comments from those who were at the HapWare presentation on April 24:
- “This app has real potential. I’m looking forward to learning more about the developments.” –BridgingApps client
- “I really enjoyed the demo.” –BridgingApps client
- “We had so much interest from our clients and they all asked so many questions, and even had suggestions on how the device could be improved in the future.” –Alejandra Gonzalez, BridgingApps Digital Navigator
Is HapWare for Me?
Walters: Have you ever wondered what someone’s face, body language, or gesture was communicating in a moment that mattered? Have you ever wanted to know if someone was smiling, upset, walking away, going in for a handshake, waving, or reacting to something you said? If missing that information has ever created uncertainty, stress, or disconnection, ALEYE was built for that exact problem.
HapWare is now taking preorders for its ALEYE wristbands and app, with a 20% discount. Subscribe to updates!
