Wired glove
A wired glove (also called a dataglove[1][2] or cyberglove) is an input device for human–computer interaction worn like a glove.
Various sensor technologies are used to capture physical data such as bending of fingers. Often a motion tracker, such as a magnetic tracking device or inertial tracking device, is attached to capture the global position/rotation data of the glove. These movements are then interpreted by the software that accompanies the glove, so any one movement can mean any number of things. Gestures can then be categorized into useful information, such as to recognize sign language or other symbolic functions.
Expensive high-end wired gloves can also provide haptic feedback, which is a simulation of the sense of touch. This allows a wired glove to also be used as an output device. Traditionally, wired gloves have only been available at a huge cost, with the finger bend sensors and the tracking device having to be bought separately.
Wired gloves are often used in virtual reality environments and to mimic human hand movement by robots.
Alternatives[edit]
An alternative to wired gloves is to use a camera and computer vision to track the 3D pose and trajectory of the hand, at the cost of tactile feedback.[12]
Popular culture[edit]
The film adaptation of Minority Report makes use of wireless gloves to control futuristic computer-like peripherals.
The Mattel Power Glove was prominently shown off in the Nintendo product placement film The Wizard, memorably wielded by antagonist Lucas Barton (Jackey Vinson).
Academic and research projects[edit]
The concept of a wired glove has been traditionally popular in the research and engineering community. Engineers continue to develop prototypes that use innovative sensor technologies and architectures to achieve the goal of gesture recognition. For example, one such project is the Smart Glove, developed in 2009 by the then electronics engineering students Arvind Ramana, Subramanian KS, Suresh and Shiva. This project was an innovative design making interesting use of hall effect switches and custom home made bend sensors.
One major barrier to adoption of datagloves is sweat.[13]