WRAEK, featuring the first palm-controller of its kind in the world, has unveiled its first two products – the WRAEK Tactonic Keyboard and the WRAEK Tactonic Pad.
They met at the as members of its entrepreneurship society and two years later, the trio is on the verge of a tech breakthrough.
Singapore start-up, WRAEK was founded by friends who met at the National University of Singapore, Ryan Siah (24), Chik Cheng Jie (26) and Chen Pinzhang (26) bonded through their love of gaming.
WRAEK, featuring the first palm-controller of its kind in the world, the WRAEK Tactonic Keyboard (USD$149) and the WRAEK Tactonic Pad (USD$119) can work individually and can be combined via magnets to function as one.
The technology breakthrough is in the WRAEK Tactonic Pad which works like a joystick for the palm. Instead of having fingers typically resting on the W, A, S and D movement keys, the force-pad maps directional force of the palm for users to execute character movements.
Akin to the simplified movements of a joystick, the force-pad is maneuvered through the gentle pushes of the palm.
WRAEK built the force-pad controller from ground up at its own office and has a patent pending for its innovation and believes that the Tactonic Pad offers a competitive advantage for gamers, especially in three genres – MOBA, MMORPG and shooters.
In MMORPGs like World Of Warcraft and in shooters such as Valorant and Overwatch, the force-pad frees the fingers from the movement keys on the keyboard, eliminating the constant need to switch between keys.
In MOBAS such as League of Legends and DOTA, the force-pad can be used for camera panning instead of moving the mouse to the edges of the screen. This allows efficient mouse movement and higher cursor control.
The start-up has already raised $300,000 with the funds coming from an angel investor, government funding, friends, and family and the WRAEK Tactonic Keyboard and the WRAEK Tactonic Pad will be available for preorders from 27 Jan on Kickstarter.
The WRAEK Tactonic Keyboard and the WRAEK Tactonic Pad are priced at USD$149 and USD$119 respectively.
For Kickstarter backers, the WRAEK Tactonic Pro bundle – consisting of the keyboard and the force-pad controller (usual price at USD$259) will be available at a 35% discount at USD$169.