Emerge, a company building a multi-sensory communication platform, signed a strategic multi-year engagement with The Walt Disney Company.

This new partnership serves as a significant step forward in Emerge’s mission to create a new paradigm for emotional connection across distance and time. Emerge feels this will provide connections in a world experiencing unprecedented levels of disconnection.

Emerge: What Do They Do?

The Emerge company focuses on technology building a multi-sensory communication platform to bridge distance and time. They do this sight, sound, touch, and brain activity, powered by “emotion AI.” These systems allow users to digitize and transmit their emotions. Emerge Wave-1 is a patented consumer device that emits ultrasound force fields that can be physically felt with bare hands. Emerge states that users can think of it as a “virtual high five” or holding hands across the globe, with no gloves or controllers needed.

Bare Hand Tactility Unlocks New Ways of Experiencing Disney Content, Together

Emerge’s partnership with Disney will integrate content into Emerge’s personal connection platform. Starting with one of Disney’s top franchises, fans can share multi-sensory experiences and interact with friends and family worldwide from the comfort of home. This would enable users to feel a “virtual high five physically,” or their favorite superpowers, with bare hands and no gloves or controllers needed.

Though we have limited information about this partnership, this brings the possibility of being in the movies via this Ai technology. Emerge mentioning superpowers causes people to think that the Marvel brand may stand out in this collaboration. With all amusement about how AI can improve some Disney products, the ability to connect via Emerge and Disney offers many new possibilities.

“For many fans of The Walt Disney Company, the fondest memories lie in the shared moments forged through the stories we’ve told over the past 100 years. Through our partnership with Emerge, we’re thrilled to leverage their technology platform to add a deeper level of “feeling” to these stories and iconic moments that have only been left to the imagination—to experience directly in their homes,” said Eric Bautista, director consumer products, games, and publishing at Disney.

A personal connection platform – starting with touch, powered by emotion AI

The rise of generative AI and its integration with various sensory inputs and outputs opens a unique opportunity in the race for technologies that help strengthen connections across distances. Emerge is building a multi-sensory communication platform. Emerge’s anchor product, Emerge Wave-1, was beta launched in 2022. It allows users to communicate with increased social presence, spend time together, and physically connect with intuitive hand-to-hand tactile contact through mid-air, precise ultrasonic force fields. Soon, Emerge will also enable users to digitize and transmit their emotions in real time, an approach that aims to establish a new standard for personal connection.

“A few years from now, we’ll look back at our current digital interactions the same way we see our carbon emissions today. With 33% of the world population feeling disconnected from others, this loneliness epidemic is already one of the greatest life threats of our time. It’s time for a communication platform centered around what truly matters—our emotional connection with others. We are thrilled to partner with Disney to further our mission,” said Isaac Castro, co-CEO at Emerge.

Multi-Sensory Communication through Displays of the Present and Future

Emerge is also engaging major consumer electronics brands aiming to set the foundation for the Emerge platform to support Smart TVs and VR and AR headsets. As the adoption of internet-enabled TVs continues adding use cases such as streaming video, cloud gaming, and video calls, a new mode of interaction and engagement will be enabled through the sense of touch. This enhancement can provide a more immersive user experience, transforming how viewers interact with digital content and each other and shaping the future of communication and interactive media.

“The journey to forging a new consumer category isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. Today’s announcement is the culmination of years of dedication and hard work of our team. In partnering with Disney, we align ourselves with a brand whose timeless storytelling has captivated audiences for a century. Together, we’re poised to transcend the limitations of current communication technology, leveraging the 1.3 billion smart TVs in homes worldwide,” said Sly Spencer-Lee, co-CEO at Emerge.

Emerge: Privacy and Safety Rooted in Transparency

In a press release, Emerge states that our personal feelings and emotional connections are our most sacred information. Emerge is committed to safeguarding users’ privacy, and its plans include three main pillars. First, personal data is stored locally on future Emerge devices while only hosting algorithms in the cloud. Second, it gives users a transparent, graphical view of what data is being collected and where it is stored. Third, by establishing an Emotional Firewall, handing control back to users. This feature will allow them to dictate what they share and with whom, with the ability to turn on and off what is communicated. Emerge stated this will be a crucial step toward a secure, personalized emotional connection.

You can consult the Emerge website if you would like more information about Emerge and its partnership with Disney.