Haptic Gloves - Text 3
For the arm’s position in space to be detected, one pointed at the television set, on which was installed three microphones which “listened” to the sounds, inaudible to the ear, emitted by two small speakers positioned above the knuckles. The receivers captured six signals from the glove: each emitter sent a signal to each of the three receivers. The console could then evaluate the position in three dimensions and the inclination of the glove by calculating the time needed by the sound to reach the various microphones. Given its material and natural limitations (the speed of sound), the position of the glove could be calculated up to twenty times per second, or a third of the NES with its sixty images per second.[3] To ensure an optimal experience, players had to calibrate the glove to determine the central position and establish a difference between an open and closed fist, thereby making more precise calculations possible.
Enthusiasm for the Power Glove was apparent well before its 1989 launch. Its presence in the film The Wizard, which opened on 15 December that year, certainly pumped up interest in the accessory. In this feature film, the antagonistic and irreverent character Lucas gave an impressive performance with the game Red Racer (1987), demonstrating peerless precision thanks to his invaluable glove, which he kept safe in a padded briefcase.
Thanks to this film and to publicity efforts, the Power Glove flew off the shelves at Christmas.[4] Unfortunately, it was soon remarked that it was much more effective as a film prop than as a games accessory.[5] Disillusionment came when the glove was tried out on the numerous games available on the console. The Power Glove, with its slower reaction speed, did not offer as much precision as a regular controller, with its near instantaneousness. Even though the entire library had been tested to ensure each game’s compatibility with the glove, it remained the case that the experience was not adequate and that what was needed were games developed expressly for the Power Glove, such as Super Glove Ball (1990), which was introduced during the publicity campaign even though it became available only a year later.
Despite a good start on the market, the Power Glove was discontinued barely twelve months after its release and development of its possible successor was cancelled. The glove’s futuristic design and promise of virtual reality were not enough to make people forget the lack of precision[6] and of engaging experiences for players.
And yet the history of the Power Glove does not stop at its failure. In addition to becoming a prized video-game collectible, a community of hackers grew up[7] around the unloved glove, which found a new life thanks to creative inventors. The animator Dillon Markey, for example, working on the series Robot Chicken, among other projects, employs a Power Glove he modified as a way of controlling the various work tools he uses during film shoots.[8] Others use the glove to control drones or lighting effects or to create music, calling to mind the original idea behind it.[9]
Finally, we cannot overlook the fact that the Power Glove was a major step towards democratizing virtual reality: “Although it never lived up to the promise, the Power Glove was one of the first virtual reality devices to be made available to a mass audience.”[10] We can also see an obvious similarity with the Wiimote, the controller of the very popular Wii which detects movements, or with the controllers of Oculus Quest, which can even detect certain positions of the fingers. The Power Glove’s legacy lives on in these new virtual reality systems, in addition to generating renewed interest among a few collectors, creators, inventors, players and game lovers who are partial to what this glove offered in the late 1980s. As an advertisement of the day proclaimed, “Everything else is child’s play.”
