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PatimPatam
Up and Coming
May 7, 2013

VR haptic gloves, without the gloves

Hello there!

Ok this was posted over the MTBS General Discussion forums but has been largely ignored, so i thought it may have better luck in here.




It appears that Sony tried to patent this idea back in 2007 and then again in 2011:
http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/13250/Sony-Patents-WiimoteKiller-Game-Controller
http://www.google.com/patents/US20110269544

However I had a quick look to check the patent status and found that it was registered as ABANDONED on 01-02-2013!
http://portal.uspto.gov/pair/PublicPair
(Select "Publication Number" and enter 20110269544)

So i'm guessing anyone is free to build/sell something similar if they want to..


This design from Sony looks much more compelling to me than the typical outside-in haptic glove (ala P5 or CyberGrasp), both from a usability and from a complexity/price standpoint.

Cheap materials could be used to sense mechanical flexing:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0049365

And i think it's not mentioned on the patent application itself but this solution would obviously be even better if each finger protrusion contained variable stiffness springs or smart materials, in order to provide passive haptic feedback. Combined with rumble and proper wireless magnetic tracking (like an improved version of a Razer Hydra) i believe this could be the PERFECT VR input device.

I understand that tension is supposed to keep the device in position but if i was going to build it i think i would add some sort of elastic band that goes around your hand and holds the central part in place, with the rumble motor inside this central body. The magnetic receivers could be inside a small casing, attached on the outside part of the elastic band for instance (on the back side of your hand).


If Oculus is looking to implement their own hand tracking device to go with the Rift (as it has been hinted a few times) i think this could be a great starting point..

Any thoughts??

    14 replies

    Show previous replies
    redslashace
    Up and Coming
    September 19, 2013
    Thank you Mrob76o for keeping this thread alive :D. I am really excited about priorvr as well! :D. I am hoping STEM, MYO, priovr, etc do well. More competition in vr devices will force these companies to continue to improve their hardware. As far as gloves are concerned the majority of the existing gloves that are commercially available and affordable will be haptic gloves. Haptic gloves will track your finger and or hand movement, however they usually provide minimal or no tactile feedback. Our glove is a haptic feedback glove that tracks finger movement and provides a great deal of tactile feedback to the user at a low cost compared to currently available solutions. All the above tracking solutions should work fine with our system. Once again thank you for the input :D!

    PS we are still needing unity developers. We are using the Uniduino plugin to integrate our glove.
    serrarens
    Up and Coming
    September 20, 2013
    I am currently developing an more advanced implementation for the Hydra in which you are able to drive the fingers using buttons (thumb = ONE button, index = bumper, other fingers = trigger). I still have the feeling this will give a usable representation of the hand, which may even be better than a non-optimal glove.

    The reason I am stating this is that when a close body representation is slightly off from reality, the user often gets irritated. Small deviations (lag, imprecision, range) may cause bigger issues than large deviations.
    The promise of being an exact representation makes the expectations high. The deviations may be too small to see directly, but it may leave the user with the feeling of 'this does not feel right'. Compare this with the latency issues of the Rift and the user getting sick.

    On the other hand, the human body and mind are very flexible in adapting new limbs. Compare this for example with physically handicapped people using a prosthesis: they can use those very well in many situations. Of course, it takes some time to learn it, but my experience with the hydra implementation is that it is quicker than it seems. Additionally, when wearing the rift and without seeing the hydra's and you virtual hands instead, your minds adjust quickly into thinking that those hands are in fact your hands. In a way similar to the famous 'rubber hand illusion' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxwn1w7MJvk.

    This is all my own opinion and experience in that an exact representation is not always the best option. And: we have the Hydra available today, while a good glove is still future music (or am I wrong here?).

    Pascal.
    Pascal. http://passervr.com
    Thanatos07
    New Participant
    June 5, 2014
    Hello all,

    Wanted to see if anyone has anymore info on this subject.

    have plans to design a haptic glove system that's affordable and when combined with a few other pieces of technology could bring about a change to many industries including VR gaming.

    In addition to a potential crowd source funding, Their our potential software applications that could open up the market for the average consumer.

    Thanks for your time guys
    Anonymous
    June 5, 2014
    My idea of a haptic glove would be a tight glove with many small pockets all over, and these would "inflate" and "deflate" rapidly according to input, putting pressure on different spots of your hand. The fingertips should have the most fine mesh of these pockets. I dont know anything on how to achieve it. Maybe there is some material that expands rapidly when getting a small electric pulse or something.

    Its maybe a bit stupid to write this when I know nothing on how to make it, but I head a dream with these gloves last night.
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