data glove

A glove used to report the position of a user's hand and fingers to a computer. See virtual reality.

The Data Glove

This CyberGlove from Virtual Technologies is an example of a data glove. The wearer is playing a simulated ballgame. As he views the monitor, his hand movements are translated onto the screen via the data gloves. Each of the gloves in the picture contain 18 movement sensors. (Image courtesy of Virtual Technologies, Inc.)

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(hardware, virtual reality)

data glove - An input device for virtual reality in the form of a glove which measures the movements of the wearer's fingers and transmits them to the computer. Sophisticated data gloves also measure movement of the wrist and elbow. A data glove may also contain control buttons or act as an output device, e.g. vibrating under control of the computer. The user usually sees a virtual image of the data glove and can point or grip and push objects. Examples are Fifth Dimension Technologies (5DT)'s 5th Glove, and Virtual Technologies' CyberGlove. A cheaper alternative is InWorld VR's CyberWand. ["Full freedom plus input", PC Magazine, Mar 14 1995, pp. 168-190].