Apple has a Power Glove coming to VR

[rcmaehl]

Summary

Apple has been granted a patent for a VR Glove.

 

Media

 

Quotes

Quote

Apple was granted a patent for a “VR glove capable of measuring the movement of individual finger and thumb bones.” The patent... was filed in 2018 but granted on December 29, 2020. While companies patent ideas all the time that never see actual deployment, the filings still offer a rare insight into the concepts being considered. Below are the Background and Summary sections of patent #10,877,557.

VR gloves can be worn over the user’s hands and can allow the user to touch, feel, and hold virtual objects in real-time. VR gloves capable of accurately detecting the positions and motions of the user’s hands and fingers without occlusion may be desired. This disclosure relates to a VR glove capable of measuring the movement of individual finger and thumb bones. The VR glove can include a plurality of inertial measurement units (IMUs) to track the movement of one or more finger and/or hand sections. The IMUs can include one or more motion sensors, such as a gyroscope and an accelerometer, for measuring the orientation, position, and velocity of objects (e.g., finger bones). The VR glove can also include one or more other electronic components, such as a plurality of electrodes for sensing the heading, enabling capacitive touch, and/or contact sensing between finger tips. The VR glove can also include force sensors, actuators for haptic feedback, temperature sensors, and heaters. The VR glove can be a fabric glove where one or more (e.g., all) electronics components can be knitted or woven into the glove. 

So there you have it — a VR Glove patent from Apple that goes so far as to mention the potential of “haptic feedback.”

 

My thoughts

Neat. It's about time a major player actually considers gloves for VR. However, while I'm excited for the glove itself, I doubt Apple will be releasing one despite their VR and AR acquisitions. This will, however, make a statement to other companies that Apple is thinking about developing it and I'm sure other companies will follow suit, even if Apple doesn't.

 

Sources

Upload VR (quote source)

Patently Apple

[Radium_Angel]

8 minutes ago, rcmaehl said:

Summary

Apple has been granted a patent for a VR Glove.

 

Media

 

Quotes

 

My thoughts

Neat. It's about time a major player actually considers gloves for VR. However, while I'm excited for the glove itself, I doubt Apple will be releasing one despite their VR and AR acquisitions. This will, however, make a statement to other companies that Apple is thinking about developing it and I'm sure other companies will follow suit, even if Apple doesn't.

 

Sources

Upload VR (quote source)

Patently Apple

Does it come with a cool pair of sunglasses?

[SlashedM]

I feel like title is a little misleading, because its just a patent, and not actually "coming"

[tim0901]

It says it in the main post, but I'm saying it again: the vast majority of all patents that are filed never emerge as real products. Just because Apple has filed for this patent does not mean that it is currently - or ever will be - in development, nor does it mean that it's even possible. You do not need to prove a device is possible before you can patent it - hence the US Navy owns a patent on an FTL drive...

 

That being said: VR gloves sound sick, I just hope they get a bit less unwieldy than the ones Norm tried out.

[StDragon]

 

[tim0901]

3 minutes ago, seee the state im in nooow said:

(UK, but)

 

Huh, guess that makes two of them!

 

https://patents.google.com/patent/US10144532B2/en?inventor=Salvatore+Cezar+Pais

Quote

Current Assignee: US Secretary of Navy

 

[TetraSky]

Does this mean Apple is getting into the VR game and are planning on making a VR headset? Because I somehow doubt they are making gloves for use with products outside of their ecosystem. 

[StDragon]

10 hours ago, seee the state im in nooow said:

that's.... a star destroyer O_O

Maybe they can power it with this thing.

 

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20190295733A1/en?inventor=Salvatore+Pais&oq=inventor:(Salvatore+Pais)

 

 

In all seriousness, if any of these devices worked, you can bet that Elon Musk would have already built, tested, and used them if viable.

[Doobeedoo]

I'm surprised this still isn't a thing already.

[Tristerin]

[StDragon]

1 hour ago, Tristerin said:

Nintendo vs. Apple....FIGHT!

[AldiPrayogi]

 

[Tristerin]

7 minutes ago, comander said:

I love the power glove. 

It's so bad. 

 

 

But...I had one...and felt more powerful when I would wear it at such a young age /s

[Video Beagle]

On 1/7/2021 at 6:20 AM, TetraSky said:

Does this mean Apple is getting into the VR game and are planning on making a VR headset? Because I somehow doubt they are making gloves for use with products outside of their ecosystem. 

Apple has been reportedly interested in AR with rumors of Apple glasses somewhere in a design stage so maybe these would be for use with them

[j.son19]

Whilst it is cool that Apple has patented a VR glove I am struggling to see where it would fit into their product line up as Apple isn't exactly the place to go for gamers. I reckon it could never see the light of day.

[andreeacrst]

gives me futuristic wii vibes