Project Post #1
Virtual Vermin
Jeff Brandt
Virtual Vermin is a glove that can act as a wireless computer mouse. The device will be intended for individuals in a design heavy industry.
To use the VV, a user would simply put a glove on their hand as they normally would with either a latex or winter glove. After the device is placed on the hand, the hand itself becomes a computer mouse. Just by moving your hand around, an accelerometer would control the location of the cursor. While only the pointer and middle fingers will be necessary to control the device, each finger will have separate functions. To left click, simply down tap your pointer finger. To right click, tap down your middle finger. And, not forgetting about the scroll wheel, move your middle finger in an up or down motion to scroll through a web page. The flexibility of the hand also allows the wearer to operate a computer mouse on a curved surface, something that is usually not possible.
My project differs from existing products because it provides the user with unlimited access to the scroll wheel. A trackpad on most laptops makes it difficult to click and scroll at the same time which is often useful for CAD drawing or 3-D modeling.
Some inspiration that is already out there are the Flying Fingers Mouse and the Maestro Gesture Glove.
As for the materials that I will need:
- A microcontroller
- Conductive thread
- Glove (or fabric to sew a glove)
- Conductive fabric
- Bluetooth extension for microcontroller
- Sewing machine
- Soldering iron
Concepts that I will need to master will include:
- Soldering (to make solid connections from the wiring to the microcontroller)
- Sewing (to make the glove itself and to integrate some insulation for the wiring from each fingertip to the microcontroller)
A tentative timeline for the VV is as follows:
- March 18th: VV Logo is designed
- March 25th: The general technology is proven to work
- April 1st: All necessary materials have been acquired
- April 8th: The general technology is proven to work when aligned in final form
- April 15th: Wearable construction is complete
- April 22nd: The technology is integrated into the final wearable
A fallback plan for the Virtual Vermin would be to eliminate some of the more complex capabilities like the wireless component or the scroll wheel function. To be a success, the bare minimum that must be accomplished would be to have a glove that can left click and move the cursor around on the computer screen.