Novel digital glove design for virtual reality applications

Abstract

Digital gloves play an important role in technology development for the life sciences, education, industrial processes, sports, augmented reality, and audiovisual entertainment. This paper proposes a novel digital glove design that integrates various features—including mechanical physical limit feedback, electric shock tactile feedback, finger bending sensation, finger gripping force and action prediction, and three-dimensional spatial positioning—to improve the feel and practical experience in virtual reality (VR). Hand dynamic perception and action prediction not only provide instantaneous data information, but can also predict actions to improve the system’s operational performance. Eight infrared light-emitting diodes are used for three-dimensional spatial positioning to allow for accurate location and simulation of the user’s hand in a virtual environment created using the Unity game engine. The proposed digital glove acts not only as a VR remote controller, but also provides physical feedback to the user that touches virtual objects. Future application areas of this digital glove include simulation training, medical rehabilitation, sports and leisure, and VR games, among others.