[Edaily Reporter Kim Seung-kwon ] Dot, a social venture that commercialized the world’s first tactile display, is expanding its business beyond devices for the visually impaired into the surgical robotics market. Kim Ju-yun, CEO of Dot, recently revealed plans to expand into the robotics business during Palm Edaily’s “Bio-Healthcare Study,” stating, “We are currently collaborating with several companies in the surgical robotics field.”

Developing Joystick-Free Surgical Robots: A New Frontier for Haptic Technology

The market Dot is now setting its sights on is “haptic feedback” for surgical robots. Currently, most surgical robots require surgeons to operate them using only a screen and a joystick. The inability to directly convey the pressure or texture of tissue felt through the fingertips has long been a challenge in the medical field.

CEO Kim explained, “A common complaint I hear from doctors, even in the U.S., is that it’s difficult to teach junior doctors exactly how much pressure to apply, and that it’s extremely hard to convey this sensation.” He added, “They say that simply handling the joystick during surgery is a very difficult process in itself.” He added, “Since this technology is specialized in enabling precise tactile feedback within a virtual environment, we are focusing our development efforts on two major markets: robotics and teleoperation (remote control).”

Dot’s ultra-compact electromagnet actuator is cited as the key technology to solve this problem. Developed for the visually impaired, this actuator reduces size, weight, and cost to one-tenth of those of existing piezoelectric systems. CEO Kim said, “It can be used as a technology that provides additional tactile compensation when integrated into the hand, or one that performs sensing and compensation simultaneously.” In fact, Dot is also pursuing a business initiative to enhance the grasping capabilities of humanoid robot hands by developing “fingertip actuation” technology, which combines precision actuation, sensing, and control technologies at the robot’s fingertips.

Revenue generation from the robotics business is expected to begin next year, and the goal for this year is to start proof-of-concept (PoC) projects with various companies. To this end, Dot is conducting joint research with the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science domestically, and with the University of Oxford and Stanford University internationally. CEO Kim noted, “There are almost no companies worldwide that specialize in developing technology capable of actuating such small points,” adding, “That’s why we’ve received many requests for samples to be used as robotic hands or to serve as facial expression muscles for robots.”

How Dot Secured Partnerships with All Three Big Tech Giants: Apple, Microsoft, and Google

The foundation for its expansion into robotics is its technological expertise, already proven in the market for devices for the visually impaired. Dot is a South Korean startup that has formed partnerships with all three major tech giants: Apple, Google, and Microsoft (MS).

Apple has integrated Dot’s technology directly into its iPhone, iPad, and macOS operating systems. CEO Kim stated, “We are Apple’s sole partner for mirroring all content through tactile feedback,” adding, “We are also listed on Apple’s website as their sole partner for tactile displays.”

Together with Microsoft, Dot co-developed “Dot Vista,” which converts PowerPoint and Excel graphs and charts into tactile feedback; CEO Satya Nadella personally introduced the technology at the Microsoft Build Conference. Last year, Dot signed an Asia-Pacific accessibility solutions partnership with Google and implemented technology that uses Gemini AI to generate graphics based solely on text commands and convert them into tactile feedback. CEO Kim revealed, “I was deeply moved by a story about a father who asked his visually impaired son what a giraffe looked like but couldn’t get an answer,” adding, “With the idea of having AI generate these descriptions instead of people, we’ve been conducting research for the past four years.”

These partnerships with big tech companies are also translating into tangible results. Dot recorded approximately 15 billion won in revenue last year and is expected to generate between 25 billion and 30 billion won this year.

Currently, the revenue breakdown is 40% from proprietary devices and 60% from OEM exports for clients, with the infrastructure (kiosk) business accounting for 10–20%. Starting this year, revenue from software and content conversion—which offers the highest margins—has gained momentum, and the company is also set to sign a major contract with a U.S. institution in the second half of the year.

CEO Kim explained, “We generated about 15 billion won last year, and we’re targeting between 25 billion and 30 billion won this year,” adding, “We expect revenue to continue to grow in the future.”

The company will also make another attempt to list on the domestic KOSDAQ market this year. Dot voluntarily withdrew its preliminary review for a KOSDAQ listing last year. CEO Kim explained the background, saying, “We were asked to demonstrate that the development of our third-generation technology was complete and that mass production had begun.” He added, “With the second-generation technology, if too much pressure was applied by hand, the pin would not rise, so we had to correct it via software—and this aspect was pointed out.” He added, “With the third generation, all these issues have been resolved. We will make another attempt at listing this year with Samsung Securities.”