Created in 1966 by Colbert, the Academy of Sciences is made up of an assembly of scientists, chosen from among the most eminent French and foreign specialists. This showcase for French science supports research, is committed to the quality of teaching and encourages international scientific development.
Winner of the 2019 Inria Grand Prize – Academy of Sciences, Vincent Hayward has already been recognized for his exceptional contribution to science with his pioneering work in haptics, the discipline that explores and exploits the sense of touch.
His interest in haptics appeared in 1991 when he was interested in the accessibility of machine interfaces to visually impaired people. The generalization of graphical interfaces effectively leaves those who are visually impaired on the sidelines. The idea was to make these interfaces accessible through hearing and touch. He developed a robot called a pantograph. This force feedback device allows you to explore the screen and touch digital objects. The quality of the results and the minimal means necessary to implement the device made for an impressive experience.
Vincent Hayward discovered a valuable subject of work and became one of the founders of an almost-unexplored research domain.
After Sorbonne – Université offered him a chair in haptics in 2007, he determined the foundations for a theory explaining how touch works.
Throughout these years, his research work and his involvement in numerous national and international projects are coupled with great productivity in engineering. Vincent Hayward designed numerous devices to stimulate the skin which will give rise to dozens of patents and the creation of the start-up Actronika.
Actronika offers haptic solutions capable of producing textures and high definition effects that can be integrated into any device: smartphones, car screens, VR accessories. It becomes possible, for example, to materialize icons on the screen of your smartphone or create 3D buttons without bulky mechanical integration.
In the digital era, Vincent Hayward reintroduces touch and revolutionizes human-machine interactions to offer users exceptional multisensory experiences.
