From news@inferno.mpx.com.au Sat Jan 14 03:17:38 1995 Return-Path: Received: from mx4.u.washington.edu by stein2.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA20968; Sat, 14 Jan 95 03:17:38 -0800 Received: from hitl-new.hitl.washington.edu by mx4.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA04038; Sat, 14 Jan 95 03:17:37 -0800 Received: by hitl.hitl.washington.edu; id AA05824; Sat, 14 Jan 1995 03:13:47 -0800 Received: from inferno.mpx.com.au by relay3.UU.NET with SMTP id QQxyqf17875; Sat, 14 Jan 1995 06:17:32 -0500 Received: by inferno.mpx.com.au (Smail3.1.28.1 #5) id m0rT7QK-000JwvC; Sat, 14 Jan 95 23:17 EST To: sci-virtual-worlds@uunet.uu.net Path: root From: im@jolt.mpx.com.au (Ivan McCann) Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds Subject: Re: Virtual Interface Marketplace [03.01] Date: 14 Jan 1995 12:17:40 GMT Organization: I & L Consulting Lines: 161 Message-Id: <3f8fd4$so4@inferno.mpx.com.au> References: <3ef2n5$knh@nntp1.u.washington.edu> Nntp-Posting-Host: dialup-06.mpx.com.au X-Newsreader: WinVN 0.92.6 Status: OR In article <3ef2n5$knh@nntp1.u.washington.edu>, scivw@hitl.washington.edu says: >From: pms@minerva.inesc.pt (Pedro Manuel Rodrigues da Silva) >Subject: WANTED: 5DT glove info >Date: Tue, 3 Jan 1995 22:01:05 GMT > >Hello! > >Some weeks ago I found an article posted in this newsgroup >talking about the 5DT glove that is selling for $500 (I'm not >sure about the price ...). > >Does anybody know where I can get some information about this glove? > >Thank you. > >Pedro Silva pms@minerva.inesc.pt > >************************************************************ >End of MarketPlace Digest >************************************************************ I received the following e-mail upon enquiry to 5DT - I repost it here. Hope this is enlightening. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5DT ================================== New Virtual Reality Products and Short courses 1 DATA GLOVE AND FLEXOR STRIP KIT [DFK] ------------------------------------- 1.1 General description The DFK consists of 5DT's 5th Glove, one flexor strip (to measure elbow or knee flexure), a PC interface card, two interface cables, KineMusica software (virtual musical instruments) and a gesture recognition software package. 1.2 Specifications/Features a. Flexure resolution: 8-bit resolution (i.e. 256 positions) for each finger and also for the flexor strip. The flexure is sampled with a 12-bit A/D converter. At the beginning of a session the glove is calibrated for an user's hand (open hand - press key; close hand - press key). The system then automatically spreads the full dynamic range across 256 positions (8 bits). The system then remains stable for that user. It must be recalibrated for every new user, because different users open and close their hands differently. b. Flex sensors: The sensors are based on 5DT's proprietary flexor technology (patent pending) [optical fiber based]. Each finger is fitted with one "sensor" which measures the average flexure of that finger. The same applies to the flexor strip. The 5th Glove does not have a thumb - first finger gap sensor. c. Sampling rate: The system is sampled at 1000Hz. If one glove (five fingers) and 3 flexor strips are used at the same time the "per finger sampling rate" equals 1000/8 = 125 samples per second. d. Computer card: 8-bit card, ISA bus. e. Flexor interface bus: 5DT's proprietary flexor interface bus allows users to connect several gloves and flexor strips to the same computer. Up to 4 gloves and 16 flexor strips may be daisy chained simultaneously. f. Glove size: 'One size fits many'. g. Low crosstalk between fingers. 1.3 Software The following software is supplied with the system: a. Windows DLL This includes (inter alia) installation routines, calibration routines, a graphical representation of the hand (solid shaded polygons) as well as help files. b. Sample DOS program Source code [C] for hardware interfacing is supplied. c. KineMusica KineMusica is a body instrument software package developed specifically for the 5th Glove and flexor strip kit. It converts body flexure to music (patent pending). KineMusica maps body flexure (measured with the 5th Glove or flexor strips) to MIDI commands, which can then be played out by any MIDI device, e.g. a sound card. A virtual piano, trumpet, violin and drum set are already available. KineMusica functions with all Windows friendly sound cards. Very good results have been achieved with the Creative Labs AWE 32 SoundBlaster. d. Gesture recognition program This program recognises user defined hand gestures by means of a least square fit algorithm. e. Software drivers for VR programs 5DT is negotiating with the following companies for the development of software drivers for the 5th Glove and flexor strip kit: VREAM: VRCreator Sense8: WTK for Windows Superscape: Superscape 1.4 Applications - Object manipulation within virtual worlds - Gesture recognition - Mimicking of hand and limb flexure (virtual actor applications) - Remote control of sensors and objects (telerobotics) - Recording of hand flexure and movement patterns - Rehabilitation therapy - 3-D controller for virtual worlds 1.5 Pricing and availability Retail pricing: US$495 for the basic DFK US$330 for additional gloves US$380 for additional left-hand gloves US$80 for additional flexor strips Availability: Beta units: Mid January '95 Production units: Mid February '95 1.6 Further information For more information please contact Paul Olckers or Ben de Waal: Tel: +27 12 349 1400 Fax: +27 12 349 1404 e-mail: 100076.404@compuserve.com 2 HEAD/HAND XYZ TRACKER --------------------- 2.1 General description This ultrasonic translation tracker system consists of a transmitter "T" (3 transmitters), a small receiver unit, a PC interface card and two interface cables. It is capable of tracking the position (x,y,z) of up to 3 objects (e.g. head, left hand, right hand) simultaneously. Many HMD vendors now provide their HMDs with a built-in 3DOF orientation tracker (yaw, pitch, roll). The 5DT Head/Hand Tracker is an affordable solution to upgrade these systems to full 6DOF tracking (yaw, pitch, roll, x, y, z). 3DOF orientation tracking is suitable for most games applications. Many professional applications do however require full 6DOF tracking. When using a data glove for example, position tracking of the glove (x,y,z) is extremely important. The 5DT head/hand tracker has been specifically designed to provide position tracking for the 5DT data glove (5th Glove). 2.2 Specifications/Features a. Accuracy: 4mm worst case, 1mm when tracked object remains stationary. b. Tracking distance: Up to 3m. A 2m timeout distance has been implemented in the software. c. Update rate: 50 updates per second. 2.3 Software Windows DLL and a sample DOS program [C]. 2.4 Pricing and availability Retail pricing: US$245 for the basic HHT US$60 for additional receivers Availability: Beta units: End January '95 Production units: End February '95 -------------------------------------------------------------------- EOT Ivan McCann