VR Haptic Gloves Preview

One open source hardware project I am working on is haptic gloves for SteamVR. They will allow for finger tracking which is more reliable than index controllers, and pull back on fingers when meshes are touched in VR, to make it feel like objects are actually being held. It also could make possible tasks which couldn't be done with the index controllers in the palm, such as playing a real piano or controlling DJ equipment, while standing in front of a virtual version of the equipment in game.

This is different from other projects in that I am placing the Vive tracker on the back of the hand, not over the forearm, and I've designed the servo holders from scratch in Blender, as others' designs didn't actually work well. I still need to design a mounting plate for the servo holders and ESP32 board, and guides for the cords.

For anyone asking "why not buy existing commercial VR gloves", none of them have haptic feedback in the same way, and only one pair recently added joysticks and buttons. Many VR games require a joystick under both thumbs to move around, and the best approach would be a panel for those controls which can be moved out of the way, but nobody has perfected an implementation of that.

Another reason to make my own is to replace the Vive tracker. Nobody is pleased with how hands fly off at least once an hour, leaving the avatar arm stretched out and unable to access in game menus which are held in the virtual hand. Also the existing trackers stop working the moment the don't see a base station, even though they use inside-out tracking with accelerometers and frequently re-calibrate with the base stations, meaning they should work just fine but become more inaccurate over time, not stop working entirely. I've already bought the same photodiodes used in Vive trackers (pictured in a tray), and I will do research on transimpedance amplifier design to get the modulated laser signal from the base stations and use it in my own tracking solution. I also believe trackers should have displays which can tell you what is wrong when that happens instead of just a blue/green light.

I will produce many videos related to this project including button debouncing, USB-C battery charging, and testing if base stations even need a spinning mirror.