SensAble Technologies
15 Constitution Way
Woburn, MA 01801
T: 781-939-7495
F: 781-937-8325
media@sensable.com
Woburn, MA, August 13, 2002 - SensAble Technologies, Inc., announced today the immediate availability of GHOST® (General Haptics Open Software Toolkit) Version 4 which for the first time provides support for the Red Hat® Linux®, Windows® XP and the AMD Athlon™ platforms. The new platform support offered with GHOST Version 4 allows even more users to integrate touch into their applications.
Arthurine Breckenridge, principal member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories said, "We are extremely happy with the ability of SensAble to keep up with our changing computing environments. Now GHOST Version 4 for Linux allows us to continue using haptics in our open source PC cluster environment, in our international grid collaborations, and especially in the new DOE common component architecture framework."
The GHOST SDK (software development toolkit) drastically reduces the time and effort required for developers to touch-enable their applications. The core "physics engine" takes care of complex computations leaving developers to concentrate on physical properties like locations, mass, friction and hardness. GHOST SDK is geared towards anyone interested in adding a sense of touch to the human/computer interface in industries such as medical simulation and training, geophysical, telerobotics, assembly path planning, molecular modeling and nano-manipulation.
A major new feature of GHOST Version 4 is the addition of the gstDeviceIO class. This class provides a new degree of programming flexibility with low-level access to the PHANTOM® device. This enhancement enables users to obtain raw encoder counts, send forces directly to the PHANTOM device and receive motor temperatures. gstDeviceIO also allows users to perform their own servo loop scheduling utilizing update rates other than the standard 1kHz update rates.
Tom Ellery, general manager of SensAble Technologies said, "By providing support for increasingly popular platforms such as Linux, GHOST Version 4 enables more users to apply advanced haptics in their environments."
Novint Technologies (www.novint.com) developed the Red Hat Linux port of GHOST Version 4 under license to SensAble Technologies and is the exclusive North American distributor for the Linux version. Walt Aviles, chief technology officer of Novint Technologies said, "We are pleased to continue our long-standing collaborative relationship with SensAble Technologies. The Linux port provides all of our customers with an important research, development and delivery alternative."
GHOST Version 4 is currently available for Windows NT, 2000, XP, and Red Hat Linux. GHOST SDK for Linux can be purchased directly from Novint Technologies in North America. All other purchases can be made through SensAble Technologies or through a global reseller channel.
About SensAble Technologies
SensAble Technologies is transforming the way people use computers in the 21st century. Our groundbreaking technology allows you to fully interact with your computer via your sense of touch. Two dimensions-sight and sound-become three, sight, sound and now touch. And that gives you the freedom to work in a more natural, intuitive way. SensAble and its products have won more than a dozen awards and have been featured in publications worldwide, including The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Fortune. FreeForm modeling, SensAble's first end-user application, was given the first ever Grand Innovation Award from Computer Graphics World. The company has over 500 customers in 30 countries, including adidas-Salomon, Bandai, ECCO Design, Equity Marketing, Hasbro, Playmobil, Unitec, Wedgwood and leading universities worldwide. For more information, visit www.sensable.com.
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SensAble, PHANTOM and FreeForm are trademarks or registered trademarks of SensAble Technologies, Inc. All other companies and products referenced herein have trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
SensAble Technologies, Inc., 15 Constitution Way, Woburn, MA 01801. Tel: 781-937-8315, Fax: 781-937-8325, Web: www.sensable.com, Email: info@sensable.com.
Novint Technologies, Inc., 9620 San Mateo Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113. Tel: 505-559-9100, Fax: 866-298-4420, Web: www.novint.com, Email: info@novint.com.
