Category: noitom

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Framestore And Noitom Partner To Create The Hyper Reality Test Drive Experience For Volkswagen

The Oscar-winning creative studio Framestore revealed earlier this week that it had partnered with the technology and motion capture specialists Noitom to work for Volkswagen Group China Import on developing the world’s first live virtual reality (VR) test drive experience. Released to the press and a crowd of VIPs in Zhuhai, China, the Hyper Reality Test Drive is an experience befitting for the all-new, technology-fulled Touareg.

Hyper Reality Test Drive

Seated as a passenger in the all-new Touareg on a real-life stuck track, and equipped with a bespoke customised Oculus headset, guests are taken on an exhilarating high velocity chase through other-worldly lands, as the vehicle comes under extraterrestrial fire – with only its in-built technology to help out. Thanks to leveraging both the physical and virtual worlds, the experience offers users with an immersive encounter unlike anything they may have seen before.

Framestore scripted the experience, plotting a hero’s journey across a four-act structure that shines light on the Touareg’s advanced inbuilt technology. Central to the script are the Touareg’s next level features, which offer a heroic escape from the narrative’s tumult of dangers. Strategically placed throughout the experience, the features create suspense and thrill, and form critical 4D touchpoints between the virtual and physical worlds.

Hyper Reality Test Drive

The physical experience covers acreage akin to a football pitch; the script’s journey was mapped, and 4D elements plotted to create action highlights. Thanks to a custom trigger system that ensures total synchronicity between in-game and real world moments for all six of the vehicles running the test drive at any one time. This is all made the much more exciting thanks to the bespoke soundtrack by Goldstein, engineered by GCVRS, as well as Mandarin and English voiceover to ensure that guests are fully immersed within the experience in their preferred language.

The experience, which is planned to be shown to media and investors in Zhuhai until the end of the moment before heading out on four regional roadshows around China, culminating in Beijing later this year. Those who are able to get to try out the experience will want to buckle up as the adventure will be sure to be thrilling ride. VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on the Hyper Reality Test Drive in the future, so stay tuned for more.

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Noitom Reveals Perception Neuron PRO Motion Capture System

If we were to mention to you the hardware company Noitom what you’ll most likely think of their virtual reality (VR) data gloves, the Hi5, designed to bring real-world hand interactions into VR experiences and whose development we’ve been tracking on VRFocus for some time. That isn’t, however, the full story when it comes to the Beijing-based business, which also has offices in Shenzhen, Shanghai and three American offices in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Miami.

The motion capture specialists have been hard at work developing a number of other projects for use in animation and film, robotics, MedTech applications as well as being used in videogames.  With one in particular being of note – Noitom’s mocap hardware Perception Neuron. Version 2.0 of which was released back in February at the same price as its predecessor but with many improvements and new accessories. Something that Noitom said at its launch would help to “future proof” the set-up, although also promising there was still much more to come as the company evolved on its ecosystem.

Noitom have now announced a new iteration, a professional version of the Perception Neuron, the Perception Neuron PRO. The new version is an IMU sensor-based system that can record motion data anywhere without any constraints to space and without the need for optical cameras. With Perception Neuron PRO being completely wireless and usable in any lighting condition – both indoors or out, without occlusion, cameras or line-of-site restrictions. Noitom describing the system as “a robust solution for professional filmmakers, animators, researchers and stage performers.”

Perception Neuron Pro“We are always looking toward the future and thinking about what our audience might need next,” Noitom International’s President, Roch Nakajima, said in a statement. “Perception Neuron PRO is aimed at creators seeking to capture intense motions for big-budget productions. PN PRO is designed to be a straightforward option for professional-level motion capture recording. Without optical cameras to set up, and without any limits to space and light, directors and animators can expect clean and accurate results that will match the scale of their project while saving on time and costs.”

Perception Neuron PRO is available to pre-order now on the product’s website for an ‘introductory’ price of $3,999 (USD) until mid-June after which pre-orders will be $4,499 (USD).

You can find specifications for the product below. For more information on the developments in technology related to the immersive sector, be sure to check back regularly with VRFocus.

 

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Noitom Launches Business Edition of Hi5 VR Glove

Leading motion capture technology company, Noitom, have announced that their Business Edition of the Hi5 VR Glove, designed to bring real-world hand interactions into virtual reality (VR) is available to order.

Hi5 VR Glove 01

The Hi5 VR Glove is a wireless, full-finger movement, sensor-based glove that is designed to capture and transfer rapid hand actions in VR environments. The product was first revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 and gain attendees the chance to see an early prototype of the Hi5 VR Glove that aims to be the solution to allowing for real-world interactive within VR environments.

“The ability to capture complete hand movement and simulate all five fingers in VR in addition to providing complete motion is a capability we have finally been able to achieve with the Hi5 VR Glove,” says Dr. Tristan Dai, CTO of Noitom and the creator of Hi5. “With freedom of movement and accurately captured data, Hi5 users will be able to immerse themselves seamlessly into their virtual worlds.”

Hi5 VR Glove 02

Thanks to the low latency of the Hi5 VR Glove, allow with haptic feedback with a programmable vibration rumblr and replaceable batteries, the device is an ideal solution for immersive hand interaction in VR. The Hi5 VR Glove also includes an SDK for both the Unity and Unreal Engine meaning developers have access to integrate the Hi5 VR Glove into their own projects and have it work alongside the HTC Vive.

“Hi5 VR Glove offers a solution for businesses on the cutting-edge to develop their own virtual reality products,” says Roch Nakajima, President of Noitom International. “With our broad commercial license in place, companies and agencies can work on many VR applications requiring hand tracking. Hi5 VR Glove offers an excellent simulation solution for research, training, and education. With the help of Hi5, businesses can cut training costs and eliminate any real-world risks.”

The Hi5 VR Glove Business Edition is aimed towards companies and entrepreneurs that want to create interactive experiences with commercial projects using the groundbreaking hand tracking solution that the Hi5 VR Glove offers. A commercial License will give free reign to developer to allow companies to produce their own products for gaming, training, simulation and entertainment.

The Hi5 VR Glove Business Edition is available to order via the product website and is priced at $999 (USD).

VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on the Hi5 VR Glove so stay tuned for more.

 

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Noitom Releases Perception Neuron 2.0 Motion Capture System

Noitom, the Beijing-based company building affordable motion capture systems, announced the release of Perception Neuron 2.0, a hardware refresh of the company’s original tracker which resulted from their 2014 Kickstarter campaign. The company also announced a new product ecosystem which will allow both 1.0 and 2.0 owners to use the tiny 1.2 gram snap-in sensors with specialized straps and a full body mocap, zip-up suit.

The 2.0 sensor isn’t exactly a complete overhaul of the IMU-based mocap system, rather a hardware refresh that the company says was designed to “reduce jitter, produce cleaner mocap, and provide the ability to record for longer periods of time with more dependable data.” Noitom says Perception Neuron 2.0 includes anti-slip straps, and reinforced pogo pin cables and dongles. The unit housing the Neuron sensor itself has also been “fortified” to make attaching and removing the sensors easier.

Perception Neuron 2.0 32-sensor kit is priced at $1,500 USD, the same as its predecessor which is now sold out worldwide.

image courtesy Noitom

With the launch of the product ecosystem, dubbed the ‘Neuron Mocap Ecosystem’, users of both 1.0 and 2.0 sensors will be able to buy individual parts so they can upgrade their suit to a newer, and “more vigorous solution,” Noitom says.

“We want Perception Neuron 2.0 to be as flexible, wearer-friendly and robust as possible,” says Tristan Dai, CTO of Noitom and developer of Hi5 VR glove. “Users will love that our new system is much more durable and the sensors will remain much more steady and secure. Overall, we’re giving them a much more solid mocap solution.”

Noitom’s penultimate product tease was back at CES 2017 with their Hi5 VR glove, which combines the IMU-based mocap sensors with a Vive Tracker for absolute positional tracking. Road to VR Executive Editor Ben Lang says the two “form[ed] a surprisingly compelling input experience that adds finger-level fidelity to Vive experiences.”

To check out technical specs and accessories, head to the Perception Neuron 2.0 order page for more info.

 

The post Noitom Releases Perception Neuron 2.0 Motion Capture System appeared first on Road to VR.

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Noitom’s Mocap Hardware Perception Neuron 2.0 Released, Better Than 1.0 At The Same Price

Being able to capture believable, lifelike motions in 3D dimensions with 3D models is a difficult task. For all the proof you need of that, look at modern videogames that can still sometimes struggle to get it right. But in virtual reality (VR) it’s even more important than ever – if you’re going to be immersed in a virtual world, you need to believe the characters around you are real, and still motions aren’t going to help things. Luckily, we have companies like Noitom creating motion capture equipment that’s both effective and affordable.

noitom perception

Last year at CES 2017 Noitom partnered with HTC Vive on motion capture gloves. Now the equipment will be more responsive and accurate than ever before, but launching at the same price as its previous iteration.

Noitom are more than just motion capture technology though, as we’ve also seen them create Alice Space, a space exploration VR application with good uses for education.

The technology is sure to please 3D animators, filmmakers and videogame developers, as making simple 3D animations for use within their software will be easier than ever. The new Perception Neuron 2.0 has a new mount and snap locking mechanism, which allows easy connectivity to the range of new accessories available for the device.

Noitom want to make the device “future proof”. Instead of releasing multiple versions of the same product from now on, they hope that the range of available accessories will instead enable the device to stay competitive on the market for a long time to come, offering users affordable solutions to what they need, instead of forcing purchase of completely new equipment.

Noitom’s CTO, Tristan Dai, shows his enthusiasm for the new product and Noitom’s future; “We know that many of our users are excited about this and so are we. Introducing the Neuron Mocap Ecosystem is a big step for us—and for our users too. They will now have a family of Perception Neuron mocap accessories that will allow them to easily upgrade their kits and improve on their work over time. With the development of 2.0, we took the feedback they have shared with us over the years into thoughtful consideration to give them the best motion capture experience possible. This marks a major milestone for us and it’s just the beginning of the expansion of our ecosystem, so much more is yet to come.”

To see prices for yourself, take a look at Noitom’s store page. It’s promising for the future of motion capture technology, and we can only hope that other companies follow suit and offer affordable, competitive alternatives. When we hear about new technology, you’ll read about it on VRFocus.

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Noitom Launches VR Location-Based Education Platform

Virtual reality (VR) has already seen significant use in education, allowing students to travel to distant countries, or explore the solar system. Also seeing significant growth is location-based VR, which Noitom specialises in, and are combing out-of-home VR with educational VR for its new product, Alice Space.

Alice Space was created as a complete hardware and software package catered towards an ‘edutainment’ market. Alice Space is themed around space exploration, an area where VR has seen some excellent experiences. Alice Space is designed to be marketed towards places such as museums and science centres, to offer immersive and educational experiences to visitors.

The hardware features a high-fidelity optical-inertial tracking, with VR goggles and backpack PC assembly. Up to six players can be involved at once, with tracking space of 7m x 10m. Noitom have formed a partnership with Australian company Opaque Space to develop and release new content for the platform. Opaque Space have an established relationship with NASA which allows them to create accurate and immersive experience themed around space exploration.

“Our goal in creating this mixed reality, multi-user platform was to bring fantastic, unattainable experiences to a mass audience. And what is more fantastic and unattainable than being able to walk on the moon?” says Roch Nakajima, President of Noitom International. “With Alice Space – theme parks, museums and edutainment facilities get an affordable, long-term, turn-key solution that can be monetized while delivering a unique experience anyone from 9 to 99 will never forget.”

Alice Space is available for pre-order, with the first versions slated for release in January 2018.

VRFocus will continue to report on Noitom’s location-based VR projects.

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Hands-on with the Kenzan Arena: Multiplayer Mind Boggling, Mutiny and Mayhem

Kenzan Studios is going big on virtual reality (VR), with four titles currently in production. Based around the recently announced Kenzan Arena franchise, each of these titles will find a place in the out-of-home entertainment sector, but one title, The Lost Pit, will also be coming to Steam.

 

Holiday Break screenshotThe selection of titles Kenzan Studios are currently working on for various VR formats and head-mounted displays (HMDs) cover a wide range of demographics. Holiday Break VR is a simple, inoffensive shooting videogame designed for children. Armed with a watergun, the player must shoot chickens, eggs, balloons and more in order to achieve a high-score. It’s a simple but effective introduction to VR, as is Starpirates VR, which is effectively a wave-based shooter with the emphasis on reward over challenge. However, there’s more interesting innovations happening at Kenzan Studios.

 

EnigmAttic VR screenshotEnigmAttic VR

EnigmAttic VR is a puzzle experience that requires multiple players. Designed for the Kenzan Arena installations, up to six players are equipped with a HMD, backpack PC and a tracking wand. Using this wand, players must work together to pull-and-push a counter to the desired exit. However, the path that lies ahead of this counter is treacherous: obstacles and narrow ledges can quickly halt your progress.

Each player takes on a unique role in EnigmAttic VR, ranging from a pharaoh to the spirits of a Spartan, Knight or a Samurai, each equipped with a different sceptre or weapon used to guide the counter. These players must move through the real world and virtual environment to ensure that their weapon casts light onto the counter, guiding it with real body movement.

EnigmAttic VR is an interesting concept; while not wholly original, the execution is compelling. Of course, attempting the challenge with a likeminded team is essential., but with the intention to limit play sessions to 15 minutes, the Kenzan Arena could well have a ‘one more go’ experience buried deep within EnigmAttic VR.

 

The Lost Pit

The Lost Pit is arguably Kenzan Studios’ path to VR primetime. A team-based multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS), Kenzan Studios’ eSports ambitions are obvious for anyone to see. However, it’s the cross-pollination of Kenzan Arena out-of-home installations and a Steam release that brings the most excitement.

A high-end version of The Lost Pit will be available at installations, which offers gameplay for up to 12 players simultaneously, divided into two teams of six with one player on each team mounted atop a motion-simulator which represents a flying bike. In-game, this latter player would have a birds-eye view of the action, relaying orders and advice to their team as they strive to take control of the point-winning platform.

The Steam version of the videogame, expected to launch very soon, will allow up to six players to go head-to-head. The same rules apply – players must choose their weaponry, launch into an arena and attempt to take out their opponents while they secure a designated position – it’s a fairly traditional videogame affair but surprisingly not an experience we’ve seen a great deal of in VR as of yet.

More interesting however, is the prospect of The Lost Pit being supported as an eSports title. There’s a certain level of fitness that would be required to get the most out of the experience, and the combination of in- and out-of-home gameplay opportunities lends itself to this. Imagine using the Steam version as a training regime; taking to the battlefield two-or-three times a week, honing your skills as your prepare to take your abilities out into the real-world, engaging in full-scale tournaments with the full Kenzan Arena experience. It doesn’t take a genius to imagine the wealth of gameplay opportunities – and progressive attitude to VR eSports – that such a comprehensive development philosophy presents.


Kenzan Developer Profile

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Kenzan Arena Brings Large-Scale Multiplayer VR to the Out-of-Home Entertainment Sector

Today at the SVVR Conference & Expo, San Jose, Kenzan Studios has unveiled a brand new virtual reality (VR) ‘playground’ initiative. Set to be known as Kenzan Arena, the project is a collaboration with Noitom which aims to set a new benchmark in both accuracy and latency in three-dimensional space.

Kenzan Studios logo

Designed for the out-of-home environment, Kenzan Arena is set to offer a variety of videogame experiences that target children, families and adults. The product will be sold into distribution on a franchise basis to shopping malls and leisure centres around the globe, with the first Kenzan Arena playground scheduled to open in late summer 2017 in Zurich Switzerland.

Using Noitom’s motion-tracking technology, Kenzan Arena will adapt large play spaces to the use of full-tracking VR, similar to the experiences currently available with The Void and Zero Latency. Players can touch and manipulate physical objects in the real-world with different implications in the VR experience. The Kenzan Arena will also integrate wind and flight simulators into the different videogames enhance the sense of immersion.

“Kenzan Arena is a place where technology allows everyone to discover extraordinary worlds, in the best possible way. Comfort and safety are of utmost importance. But for me, emotions, beauty and artistry remain non-negotiable values,” says Pascal Montjovent, Director of Creative Research & Development at Kenzan Studios.

The Lost Pit screenshot

Kenzan Studios plan to release new videogames every 12 months, with multiplayer competitions between multiple Kenzan Arena installations bringing eSports to an international scale. At present, four titles have been unveiled for the Kenzan Arena installations:

The Lost Pit VR is a multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) targeted at adults. In a futuristic colosseum on a planet far away, up to 12 players fight for survival on floating platforms. Two of these players will fly futuristic motorbikes over and under the platforms, using motion-tracked real-world input solutions.

EnigmAttic VR is a videogame created for groups of friends or families. In this mysterious escape room players have to work together to solve puzzles with the aim of transforming from a ghost back to a human being. The room is both virtual and physical, with objects in the real-world replicated in the VR environment.

Holiday Break VR is a single-player videogame created for children and families around every holiday period, be it Halloween, Easter, Christmas or even Valentine’s Day. Points are accumulated and rewards/discounts distributed by the hosting venue – tailored to their holiday offering.

Starpirates VR is a single-player videogame created for children and families in which players find themselves on a futuristic Jule Verne inspired pirate ship, takes with shooting and smashes as many bottles as possible in the allotted time. As with Holiday Break VR points are accumulated that can be used for rewards and discounts by the hosting venue.

Holiday Break screenshot

For all of the above titles, each Player is equipped with a backpack PC, a head-mounted display (HMD) and a set of controllers or special weapons. These are wireless, free roaming experiences. Depending on the videogame, either Noitom’s motion tracking technology or the HTC Vive platform will be used.

The entry level version of Kenzan Arena is a standard 200 square meter area (2150 sq ft) where up to 12 players can simultaneously participate. Therefore, the recommended space of a Kenzan Arena facility is 400 square meters (4300 sq ft). In addition to the 200 square meter playing area we recommend 100sqm waiting area and 100sqm for reception, coffee area, storage and operations. The minimum ceiling height is 3.5 Meters. On request, Kenzan Arena can be scaled to fit the structural circumstances of the operator’s facility.

Prior to today’s unveiling of the Kenzan Arena franchise, VRFocus met with Kenzan Studios to discuss the project and get hands-on with the videogames set to be offered as part of the package. There’s much more information to come soon, but those in attendance at SVVR Conference & Expo this week can get hands-on with the Kenzan Arena experience themselves.

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Noitom Partners with HTC Vive on VR Motion Capture Glove

Earlier this week HTC revealed several new accessories for the Vive head-mounted display (HMD), including a Deluxe Audio Strap and the Vive Tracker. The latter can be attached to various objects to utilise in virtual reality (VR) including gloves, which Noitom has done with its Hi5 VR Gloves.

Debuting at CES 2017, the Noitom Hi5 VR Glove is the company’s first consumers orientated product, featuring wireless connectivity and full-finger actions. Noitom usually specialises in full-body motion capture recently releasing its Perception Neuron system, so its used this expertise for the Hi5 VR Glove. Using similar technology to that in Perception Neuron, the wireless Hi5 Glove works with a series of IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) sensors that can accurately relay motion data from glove to computer in real-time. The Hi5 VR Glove contains six, nine-axis IMU sensors on each finger for full left-and-right-hand motion capture with high-performance tracking. Noitom has then combined it with the Vive Tracker to offer full tracking using its Lighthouse sensors.

Noitom_Hi5 VR Glove

“The ability to capture complete hand movement and simulate all five fingers in VR in addition to providing complete, un-occluded motion is a capability we have finally been able to achieve with the Hi5 Glove,” says Dr. Tristan Dai, CTO of Noitom and the creator of Hi5. “With freedom of movement and accurately captured data, Hi5 users will be able to immerse themselves seamlessly into their virtual worlds. We look forward to a continued partnership with HTC VIVE and to giving consumers the opportunity to explore countless interactive experiences in VR.”

Noitom partnered with HTC Vive for CES 2017, demoing the glove to attendees using custom-designed experience developed on Unity. A virtual sandbox called Project Alice, the one to two user experience will allow players to interact with objects and to use their hands to perform actions such as grabbing, throwing, stacking, and drawing in a 3D space.

“The Noitom Hi5 Glove is a critical component to delivering an immersive VR experience and building out the ever-growing Vive ecosystem,” said Dan O’Brien, VP Virtual Reality, HTC VIVE. “We built Vive to deliver the most immersive, room-scale VR experience on the market today. Companies like Noitom help us meet this vision and we’re excited to see what the Hi5 Glove offers to the VR experience.”

For the latest VR news from CES 2017, keep reading VRFocus.

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Hands-on: Noitom’s Hi5 VR Glove Brings Compelling Finger Tracking to the Vive

VR input gloves are getting a big boost thanks to HTC’s newly revealed Vive Tracker. The combination of Noitom’s Hi5 VR glove and the Tracker forms a surprisingly compelling input experience that adds finger-level fidelity to Vive experiences.

We’ve seen plenty of VR gloves and other finger-tracking input methods over the years, and while a few of them proved quite functional, most had one flaw standing in the way of adoption. Usually that flaw was the tracking system, which was either not good enough or was a complex third-party approach which made the system unlikely to be adoptable for consumer use because of setup times and the difficulties with mixing and matching tracking technologies. The Vive Tracker, it seems, is about to change all of that.

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Thanks to the Tracker, it’s become easy to precisely track third-party accessories in the same coordinate plane, with the same accuracy, and with the same latency as the VR headset itself, eliminating a host of issues in one fell swoop.

Functional and Practical

vive-tracker-and-accessories-12For Noitom’s Hi5 VR glove, that lead to a surprisingly compelling input experience on the Vive which feels more immersive for certain use-cases than the basic Vive controllers. After trying the gloves today at CES 2017, I came away feeling like I’d finally witnessed the right combination of finger tracking and motion input that could work in the consumer market.

One of the advantages of the Noitom Hi5 is the quick setup time. Unlike some other glove systems we’ve seen which also require bicep and even chest straps, the Hi5 is just the glove. Pull it on, synch the wrist strap and you’re good to go.

One thing I was initially concerned about was that the wrist-mounted Vive Tracker would wobble around and cause my virtual hand to wobble even when my real hand did not. Fortunately I found that the Tracker sat on my wrist close enough to the hand that the two were always rotationally in sync, and I was able to tighten the strap enough to prevent any wobbling.

Hands and Fingers Together

With the gloves and headset on, I immediately saw the responsive hand tracking provided by the Tracker, which taps into the same SteamVR Tracking tech as the headset. Beyond just hand-tracking, each of my fingers were individually tracked, offering full range of vertical movement. Horizontal finger movements didn’t appear to be tracked, through the use-cases for that sort of movement seem extremely slim.

With the Noitom Hi5 gloves, I felt able to fully articulate my hand in the virtual world, including giving thumbs up, pointing, and a certain lewd gesture with ease. Pointing, in particular, worked well enough that it became a more precise way to activate virtual buttons to make various selections. I was also able to gently tap a row of dominos with a satisfyingly precise flick of a finger.

A Challenge Remains

Initiating a “grab” with VR gloves is still a bit of an issue. Pinch gestures are sometimes employed to make it clear to the computer when you do or don’t intend to be grasping a virtual object, but using a pinch to pick up objects often feels unnatural. Some gloves use a “mock” grab gesture where you basically close your hand part way and pretend to be grabbing a real object when there isn’t actually one in your hands. This too feels awkward. Without the feedback of a real object to grip, the virtual grabbing interaction feels unsatisfying. Controllers, oddly enough, usually feel much more natural for virtual grabbing functionality because you have the feedback of something in your hand as you are grabbing the object.

noitom-hi5-vr-gloveInterestingly, the “fake” grabbing gesture on the Hi5 felt better than most gloves I’ve tried. So far as I can tell, this was a happy accident. The glove was a little big big for my hand, and, combined with the plastic underglove I was wearing (for sanitary demo purposes), the material would bunch up between my fingers as I went to close my hand into a gripping gesture. This offered some natural resistance against my grip which actually made the grabbing experience feel quite a bit more real and satisfying for me. I told the Noitom folks that they may want to chase that accident and see if there might be a good way to make it happen on purpose.

For now, the Hi5’s ‘grab detection’ felt relatively good, but still gave me some trouble. The computer isn’t always clear when you want to be holding an object and when you want to let it go. This meant I had a number of instances where I wanted to throw an object but it was left stuck to my hand until the next try. That might not seem like a big deal when the object is a ping pong ball, but when you’re in the middle of a competition VR multiplayer match and you go to throw that virtual grenade, only to find it stuck to your hand after you went to throw it… you’re going to be cursing the glove. Input needs to be 99.9% (if not 100%) accurate otherwise it will frustrate the user to no end. I often say: imagine if your mouse was 90% accurate… how frustrated would you be if every 10th click simply didn’t work? You’d probably throw that mouse out and buy a new one.

The grabbing gesture can certainly be defined and improved in software, but even then, it’s been a persistent challenge for most finger-tracked systems to find an all-encompassing approach to grab detection that works consistently for all the ways different users might attempt to grab virtual objects. It could be said that a more explicit grabbing gesture could be taught to users (like making a fist for instance), but in my mind the purpose of the glove is largely defeated if the user needs to be taught how to grab or throw an object differently than they would in real life—after all, the whole point of bringing your fingers into the virtual world is to make the experience more natural, not less.

– – — – –

Save for the inconsistent grab detection—and questions surrounding the awkwardness of pretending to grab something when there’s nothing actually in your hands—the Hi5 glove felt responsive and definitely make interactions with small physical objects in the virtual world more compelling. The addition of real finger pointing also opens the door to more nuanced interface input.

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With some tweaks, Noitom has something pretty cool on their hands here. Now that we know it works, the next question is price. The company hasn’t announced pricing yet, but says the glove is being positioned for the consumer market on the way to its Spring 2017 launch.

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