Fiber optic-based glove for computer interfacing with application in virtual reality

• Main Authors: Cheuk, Fong Wai S., Cleto, Eugene Y., Filipino, Alain C., Reyes, Roland M.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1995
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/16604
• Institution: De La Salle University

Our hands are intermediaries between our brain and the world around us. So the proponents have turned first to hand-gesture input for manipulating virtual reality. The best method developed so far for translating the movements of the hands into computer-input signals is a glovelike apparatus that surrounds the hand. The glove input device is made of lightweight Lycra that fits snugly around the hand. The system that measures finger and hand movements consist of an ultrasonic position / orientation sensor and a set of sheathed fiber-optic cables that run along the back of each finger. The fiber-optic cables act as sensors to measure the flex and extension of each finger. Each cable is attached to every joint in the finger with one end connected to the light-emitting diode and the other attached to a photosensor. All of the cables are attached to the interface unit. The interface circuit serves as a control unit that converts the light energy received by the photosensor into quantifiable electric signals. Upon bending a finger, the LED's light traveling through the fiber-optic cable escapes through small scores or cuts in the cable's sheath. The computer interprets the deluge light intensity to determine which fingers and knuckles are bending and how much they are bent. A software was also develop to provide a simple three-dimensional representation of the hand with additional information about the position of the fingers.