VRgluv Brings 1st Force Feedback Haptic Glove to VR

What do you get when you lock a team of product engineers and “VR freaks” in a dark, Atlanta warehouse with a 3D printer for a prolonged period of time? – I know, it sounds like the beginning of a bad (/weird?) joke—but it turns out you get something pretty extraordinary. Enter VRgluv, the brainchild of this 3-month-long Atlanta warehouse project, and the first haptic glove advanced enough (and sexy enough) to be worthy of a VR headset’s time.

VRgluv’s team believed there was a problem in the market due to the fact that the current high-end headsets did not have a touch interface impressive enough to match the HMDs, so they set about coming up with a solution to this problem.

“We set out to enhance everyday life through VR, so we had to decide where to start. Which senses should we attack first? Vision, hearing, and touch. The current high-end headsets are able to project a virtual world exceptionally well, and we decided that there is not currently a touch interface to match the performance of the headsets. That is why VRgluv was born.”

VRgluv features complete hand tracking, variable force feedback, force sensitivity, ergonomics, hardware capability, and software capability. For those unfamiliar with haptics, we’ve included an info box below, with a breakdown of each feature.

Complete Hand Tracking

• High-fidelity finger and hand tracking
  • finger tracking system is simple, elegant, and accurate.
  • positioned the controller attachment point on your hand, allowing for full rotational wrist tracking
  • virtual hands will always match the position and orientation of your entire hand with extremely high accuracy.
  • allows gaming experiences to be endlessly more interactive, immersive, and natural

Variable Force Feedback

• Allows you to feel virtual objects in your hand.
• haptic glove recreates the shape of the object in your hand
• every object interaction feels unique, accurate, and real. With VRgluv, you can now feel a baseball rolling off your fingertips or the handle of the bat in your hands. Our virtual reality glove can enhance every VR experience and interaction and take them to the next level.

Force Sensitivity

• Force sensors for each finger to provide real-time feedback about grip strength for a more immersive VR experience
• Feel the difference between hard and soft objects.
• Crush, morph, squish, and interact with objects

Ergonomics

• VRgluv is the only virtual reality haptic glove with variable force feedback, force sensing, and full finger and hand tracking located entirely on the glove itself
• Gloves are also adjustable for a variety of hand sizes
• No necessary gauntlets, arm braces, or unsightly wires required, giving you more freedom and flexibility than ever before
• Glove fits the most technology possible into a package that will not affect your gaming stamina

Hardware Compatibility

• Compatible with all high-end VR headset systems
• Interchangeable controller feature allows you to switch from one VR system to another in a matter of seconds.

Software Compatibility

• SDK and tools that allow developers to easily add glove support to existing games or build new experiences
• SDKs for both Unity and Unreal that will be released and is compatible with other VR development tool

“We wanted to make a glove that was not only packed with high-tech features, but something that was comfortable, stylish, functional, but most importantly, affordable. Our mission is simple: deliver the most complete glove to VR.” According to VRgluv’s Co-founder Steven Fullerton, the glove’s first round target audience will be gamers, as they offer the most critical feedback in the fastest turnaround. As the glove becomes more mainstream, Fullerton sees many applications for the glove, especially in the medical field.

VRgluv came out of stealth mode last week, with the unveiling of their website. The product is not available for purchase just yet, but you can get on a pre-order list now.  Fullerton gave us the inside scoop that the company will be making a big announcement in the next week, so we’re keeping our ear to the ground and hoping the glove will be released soon!