Skip to main content
CaliberMengsk
Up and Coming
October 29, 2013

VR Gloves (my project)

Hey everyone,

I know I've had my vr glove project under my projects for a while, but recently I've been having more free time and actually got started working on it the last week or so. The idea is to use accelerometers, gyros, flex/bend sensors, potentiometers (volume knobs) and maybe a joystick, to make a highly accurate, non-laggy virtual reality glove. This first draft will be the proof of concept just to show what I mean. It uses and arduino leonardo (at least now it does), as well as the sensors mentioned above. At the moment, it's just writing all of the sensor data to a serial connection, then unity is reading that data (threaded so the game doesn't lag if it's to slow) and applying it in real time.

I wasn't sure if I should post it here yet, as I don't even have the elbow movement up and running quite yet. (Sensor is there, just I haven't built the elbow joint. This will be two plastic bars held together with a potentiometer to get how open the arm is.) but it's looking go so far, I think at least.

I still need to add the other two main fingers also, as well, the thumb has no input (first draft at least will be a joystick)

Let me know what you think! I'm hoping to get the elbow hooked up properly soon to be able to make a basic demo.

Here's the two videos I've made so far. Nothing spectacular, but still.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--cOVZdpkWM - First video. Arduino Duemilinove (6 analog inputs), only one accelerometer and two flex sensors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um3JUnARQQQ - Second video. Arudino Leonardo (12 analog inputs), two accelerometers, two flex sensors, and a potentiometer for elbow.

To Do List:
Craft elbow plastics and attach potentiometer and tilt sensor to it.
Add in other two flex sensors.
Create mount for thumbstick.
Add in thumbstick.
Make full demo project including picking up stuff as well as detailed actions (opening doors, windows, flushing toilet, things like that.)

EDIT:
All video links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--cOVZdpkWM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um3JUnARQQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c18tycYrDak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=282HJJANcio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r15LuC7TD20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzMh7GttqXY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmXeFKzs-HQ

    92 replies

    Show previous replies
    CaliberMengskAuthor
    Up and Coming
    January 11, 2014
    At the moment, I'm not actually tracking the thumb. The thumb, at least for this proof of concept will be a joystick, so that you can move around without having a gamepad. This may change later, but that's how it is at this point. I'm not sure how I intend to make things interact besides just being a regular hand. Maybe some form of gesture control where if you are touching something and make a closed fist, it acts as a "pick up this object" trigger.

    I haven't finished putting it all together quite yet, or I'd try it out, but as your system is, my system just wouldn't work since the thumb isn't tracked. T_T Sorry. Could possibly do something similar though, with checking if the one side of the palm is touching with the finger, and the fist is closed past a certain point.
    Current Project: Virtual Reality Glove project
    serrarens
    Up and Coming
    January 12, 2014
    Well, actually I am not moving the thumb either. It is just sitting in the default position with a collider. I move the hand to the object I want to grab and close the fingers to grab it.
    But see as you wish. If you are interested you can contact me.

    Just a question from my side: what are the inputs from your glove. One value per finger or a value per phalanx?

    Thanks for your reply.
    Pascal. http://passervr.com
    CaliberMengskAuthor
    Up and Coming
    January 12, 2014
    Since I'm just using a flex sensor, it's one value for the entire finger. I have all of the data coming into a script, which can be referenced for wrist orientation, elbow bend, upper arm orientation, and each of the individual fingers.
    Current Project: Virtual Reality Glove project
    serrarens
    Up and Coming
    January 13, 2014
    That is matching the setup I am working on.

    Thanks!
    Pascal. http://passervr.com
    suntop
    New Participant
    January 13, 2014
    Super !
    CaliberMengskAuthor
    Up and Coming
    January 16, 2014
    New video! Link in the reddit post. Upvote if you don't mind:
    http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/1vcj5l/vr_glove_video_6_hardware_is_a_go/
    Current Project: Virtual Reality Glove project
    JBCoding
    Participant
    January 16, 2014
    It's good to see you're making progress. I doubt that I'm the only person excitedly following your progress.

    Yeah, I didn't have anything to really add aside from encouragement.
    vrfanboy37
    Up and Coming
    January 16, 2014
    Great work. I'm a glove interface supporter. The razor is cool, but it isn't perfectly intuitive. Move your hand and the vr hand moves, grasp and it grasps, gesture and it gestures. add a few contact points for buttons and a thumb stick to complete.

    again great work
    CaliberMengskAuthor
    Up and Coming
    January 28, 2014
    Sorry for the delay of updates, I needed a break before the game jam, and I had been working on this in practically all of my spare time, so I needed a slight break as well.

    Here's a quick update. Nothing super fancy, but colliders are colliding now at least, so that's good.

    Current Project: Virtual Reality Glove project
    Berticus3rd
    New Participant
    February 3, 2014
    One day I hope to be able to use gloves that tense up according to the shape of the virtual object your picking up or holding. That would be amazing.
    Show more replies
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement