Haptic Gloves - Text 1
Creating music at the tip of one’s fingers and hearing the sounds of one’s “air guitar” are ideas which germinated in the mind of Thomas Zimmermann for several years before finally taking shape, first as a complex virtual reality system and later as a control interface for Nintendo Entertainment Systems (NES) – which did not succeed in finding a place in the market – before finally becoming a cult object prized by collectors and inventors.
Power Glove, launched on 3 December 1989, sought to be a major step towards greater immersion, an accessory which would pierce the screen and enable players to interact from their fingertips. Imagine driving a car with one hand “on the wheel” or beating Mike Tyson with a “real” punch. Initially a simple gardening glove hooked up to an Atari 400 computer, Zimmermann’s invention was developed with the help of VPL Research after he turned down an offer of $10,000 for his concept from Atari. In addition to detecting fingers, the developers added to the device they called the “Data Glove” the recognition of arm movements in space and paired it with 3D glasses to round out this virtual reality system worth around $9,000.[1]
The glove became the famous Power Glove with Mattel through a partnership with Abrams/Gentile Entertainment. Mattel was still hurting from the collapse of the video games industry in North America in 1982 and, after Intellvision, was hesitant to market a new system. For this reason, the manufacturer of Barbie wanted to make the glove an accessory for the popular Nintendo console. Jill Barad, CEO of Mattel, was convinced after a demonstration in the company’s offices. According to those present, she put on the glove and, with one blow, knocked out Glass Joe, the first adversary of the game Punch-Out!! (1987). Once Mattel was on board, the goal was to transform the costly Data Glove into the Power Glove, a product for the general public costing less than $100.
Economic choices became necessary from the start. The Power Glove was produced in two sizes, one for adults and one for children, and was made for right-handed people only. This design decision avoided the complex logistics which a number of versions would have entailed, for both the manufacturer and the merchant.
When worn on the hand, the glove was the equivalent of having a Nintendo controller on one’s forearm, used to facilitate navigating menus or even for playing. It also had a series of buttons for entering codes to program the glove before each game. These codes changed the glove’s functioning slightly to adapt it to the NES games library. For example, bending the thumb activated the power of one’s character, and closing one’s fist let the player accelerate their car.
