We're pleased to share the development of the glove that users will be able to wear so that they can experience gamified rehabilitation. More specifically, this glove will enable users to experience hand tracking in VR along with haptic feedback on their hands.
Playing with Pockets
In the first iteration, there were elastic pockets that were able to tightly secure the components, but they inadvertently compromised natural hand movements. They were too tight and pushed the components into the hand, making it uncomfortable for the user, so while the glove material was adequate, the elastic pockets were not. To avoid making the glove uncomfortably tight, the elastic pockets were removed and excess glove material was used to create pockets of varied sizes. This was done on the index and middle finger. 2 pockets were added to each finger, one on top and one below the finger.
Through meticulous hand-sewing and using permanent markers as practice fingers, we tailored each pocket to accommodate our flex sensors and haptic motors. For the middle finger, a pocket of a shorter length was added to the bottom for the haptic motors while a pocket of a longer length was added to the top for the flex sensors. Meanwhile, for the index finger, 2 long pockets were sewn onto the finger. This was done to test which set of pockets would work best for a single VR glove. From this iteration, we decided that each side should have long pockets in case the user wants to change hands.
Third (and Current) Iteration
In our latest iteration, our VR glove has 6 elongated pockets. We have allocated 2 pockets to the index, middle, and ring finger. They have been positioned along the top and bottom of each finger, and they align seamlessly with the flex sensors and haptic motors we have. These sensors and actuators are secure in the pockets and are not tight on the user's fingers like the elastic pockets in the first iteration. Additionally, to ensure the whole glove does not slip too much during operation, a thick elastic band was added to the wrist of the glove, wrapped in the glove material, to make the glove feel more secure around the user's hand.
Next steps
We found that there is some slack from the pockets that can be removed and if possible, we are hoping to add more elongated pockets to accommodate all fingers once we have more parts. The elastic band at the wrist may also be substituted for a hairband as the rubber band does not stretch as easily.
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