Monday, September 7, 2009

Peregrine Gaming Glove turns your hand into a controller



The keyboard is the most important interface a computer has, but despite decades of use, it really hasn't changed all that much. The latest product vying to replace it is the Peregrine glove, and, while we don't think it's the future of interacting with your PC or Mac, it could be a boon to gamers addicted to online RPGs.

Demonstrated to us at E3, the Peregrine is basically an elastic glove with some wires sewn into it at various points. Connecting one of those points to conductive patches on the palm and thumb creates an electrical circuit, which the glove's brain converts to a keypress. So, touch your thumb and forefinger together, and it might cast a spell in a role-playing game; touch your middle finger to your palm and it could heal you (or your in-game character, at least).


There are 40 total combinations of contact points on the glove that you can use and configure to do whatever you like. It's not particularly suitable for fast-paced games like first-person shooters (Halo, Quake, and all of those categorized games), but for massively-multiplayer online games, like 'World of Warcraft,' it could be perfect. Gamers could use the mouse with their right hand and wear the glove on the left, touching and tapping their way through the next level grind.

The glove is slated to cost $129 and ship sometime this Fall. And, while that may sound like a lot, it's actually a surprisingly solid product, developed up to military specifications. Why to military specs? That, sadly, they wouldn't tell us. But you can be sure we'll bring more impressions as soon as we get to spend a little more quality time with the controller.

No comments:

Post a Comment