Fiber Optic Finger-Flexion Data Glove

ECE 4542, Spring 2004, Group 02

Motion capture is a widely-used and highly applicable technology used in such areas as film making, video games, medicine, industrial control, and ergonomics research. To be effective, motion capture equipment must be accurate and provide a high refresh rate for data. However, for the motion captured to be natural, the measurement device must be as unobtrusive as possible. Lastly, such a device should be available at a reasonable price.

Our motion-capture glove, dubbed the Data Glove, aims to provide accurate motion capture for the hand with six bits of information per sensor and two sensors per finger. To avoid the unnatural feeling of bulky mechanical sensing devices, we will use optic fiber and photosensors to track movement. The glove will communicate with a PC using the standard RS232 serial port because it is simple and capable of high data rates. A simple-to-use API will make the data available for processing on multiple platforms (*nix, Windows), and a visualization application will display a model hand on the screen which mimicks the glove-wearer's finger flexion. The whole package will cost under $500.

This page last modified January 13, 2004 - 9:45:43PM