Actile Technologies

Battlefield data inputs have increased dramatically over the past decade, but warfighters are still processing them through screens, radios, and verbal calls that require eyes down and hands occupied. In high-intensity operations, that cognitive interrupt is a kill chain vulnerability—operators are dying or making fatal errors because they can't stay heads-up while staying informed. Human bandwidth hasn't scaled with battlefield data, and no current solution solves this without adding weight, training burden, or new devices.

Actile's smart fabric haptic interface encodes the debilitating amount of battlefield signals—navigation, alerts, tasking, and status updates—into intuitive physical signals to indicate the type of signal (by haptic modality), its bearing (by location on the body), and distance (by pattern). These signals are programmed directly into a soldier's uniform using seven haptic modalities (taps, motion, squeezes, thermal, electrical stimulation, and more), enabling fully eyes-free, hands-free, ears-free situational awareness without adding new devices.

Actile has secured $198K in non-dilutive funding including an Army xTech award, earned a non-competitive project invitation from OUSD(R&E), and holds active collaborations with ManTech and other defense primes across threat awareness, warfighter readiness, and CBRND. We have conducted 300+ customer discovery interviews, exhibited at USSOCOM, SOF Week, SOFWERX, AUSA, and Fort Bragg, and received documented endorsements from ManTech, USSOCOM, and AFFOA. A prototype evaluation with SOF units is the immediate next milestone.

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2023/10/10/under-pressure-advances-in-haptic-textiles-for-sensory-feedback/

  www.forbes.com

• https://cybernews.com/tech/smart-textiles-for-clothing/

  cybernews.com

• 
  New fabric sends touch cues to help soldiers stay silent in combat

  Interesting Engineering

  Actile Technologies’ fabrics send information through touch, letting users receive cues without screens or sound.

• 
  Rice Innovation awards fourth cycle of One Small Step Grants

  Rice News | News and Media Relations | Rice University

  ​​​​​​​Rice Innovation announced its most recent awardees of the One Small Step Grant: Actile Technologies, IronLattice and MightyMito from the Preston, Tour and Hilton labs respectively.

• https://insights.globalspec.com/article/24371/smart-fabric-lets-soldiers-feel-subtle-signals-through-air-and-pressure

  insights.globalspec.com