CaptoGlove today announced the launch of a Kickstarter campaign for its new wireless, wearable controller. The controller has been in development for five years and last month was demonstrated to GDC.
The device was originally designed to assist victims of stroke recover the use of their hands. From there, CaptoGlove have developed the technology into a wearable, wireless controller for use with all types of virtual reality (VR). CaptoGlove is using flexible Bend Sensors provided by Flexpoint, along with a washable, breathable textile, to create the device.
The CaptoGlove device works via Bluetooth, and is designed to be compatible with all VR headsets and iOS/Android smartphones. The manufacturers also claim it will be compatible with ‘All PC games, past and present.’ The gestures used are all fully customisable via an app available for free on iOS, Android and PC.
“The human hand is the greatest controller in the world,” said Paolo Trotta CEO of CaptoGlove. “With CaptoGlove you can now extend that natural precision, response time and efficiency across a wide variety of tasks and devices.”
The Kickstarter campaign is set to run until 24th April, 2017 and CaptoGlove are looking to raise $50,000 (USD) in funding. Funding tiers range from a simple $1 (USD) to get access to exclusive updates, to $160 (USD) Early Bird offer for a single CaptoGlove. The top tier costs $599, and gets the backer a pair of CaptoGloves, along with additional sensors that can be used for extra precision.
CaptoGlove believe that, should funding be successful, the units should be ready to ship in September 2017. Software Developments Kits for Unity 3D and Unreal Engine 4 should also be available sometime between July and September. Further details are available on the Kickstarter page. You can watch a launch trailer for the campaign below.
VRFocus will bring you further updates on CaptoGlove and other VR related crowdfunding campaigns as they are revealed.