SenseGlove Nova

The Dutch company SenseGlove enables you to physically feel what you touch in the virtual world with a haptic glove. In this blog, we explain how this works and why it's useful to use a haptic glove.

SenseGlove originated in 2017 from the idea of a graduation project. The founders of SenseGlove - Gijs den Butter and Johannes Luijten - had the idea to use a haptic glove to assist in stroke rehabilitation. Today, SenseGlove has grown into a full-fledged company with a dedicated development team, and they have discovered the most beautiful applications for the SenseGlove.

The latest product they have developed, the SenseGlove Nova, is a haptic glove that looks very futuristic. When you pull the glove over your hands, you immediately feel like a sort of Iron Man. The gloves have a nice silver-colored appearance, which immediately gives it a luxurious look and feel. Where the original SenseGlove (development kit) sometimes felt a bit shaky and bulky, the SenseGlove Nova is a real improvement and we also see this product attracting the mass market.

On top of the SenseGlove Nova glove, there is a built-in mount where you can attach a tracker or a Quest 2 controller. When purchasing the SenseGlove Nova, it's important to indicate which platform you want to use the glove with, so that you receive the item with the right mount. SenseGlove offers the following options for this: HTC VIVE Tracker, Oculus Quest 2 Controller or Pico Neo 3 controller.

The gloves are as easy to put on as regular gloves. While it was a big hassle with the first version of the SenseGlove to get the glove correctly over your fingers, with the SenseGlove Nova it's no problem at all to put the glove on correctly. Moreover, the glove is made of flexible and lightweight material, and you can continue to move your fingers perfectly. Therefore, it does not hinder you in any way in the virtual world.

The SenseGlove Nova operates completely wirelessly via a Bluetooth connection to the headset or computer. This has an enormous advantage because you don't always have to be aware of where the cables around the gloves are. Combine the SenseGlove Nova with a Pico Neo 3 Headset and you can move around freely.

Perhaps the most important part of the SenseGlove Nova is the haptic feedback it provides. The SenseGlove Nova has built-in motors that "resist" your fingers in the virtual world when you pick something up. This resistance is provided by small wires running from the glove to the tips of your fingers. The force feedback works very well in the SenseGlove. However, there is still a noticeable lag (delay) in the whole picking up process.

There is also a bit less power in the SenseGlove Nova. Compared to the original development kit, there is slightly less force in grabbing with the Nova. This is due to the fact that there is a built-in battery in the SenseGlove Nova glove, and the glove can be used completely wirelessly. In the original development kit, the glove was connected by a cable, which could provide more force to the glove feedback. All in all, this is not a problem, but especially when comparing the original development kit and the newer Nova, the difference is noticeable.

In addition to haptic feedback, the SenseGlove Nova also has finger-tracking. The SenseGlove Nova glove uses the built-in tracking cameras of the headset. This is (at the moment) only possible with the Quest 2 and Pico Neo 3 headsets. If you don't use the built-in finger tracking (for example, when precise tracking of your hand is important), you can place the controller - or an HTC tracker - on top of the glove.

The SenseGlove Nova is a huge improvement over the original development kit. Particularly the fact that the glove has received a better design does a lot for the mass adoption of this product. Also, the fact that the SenseGlove Nova can be used completely wirelessly makes it much more attractive for companies and organizations to experiment with a haptic feedback glove.

Presumably, the SenseGlove Nova is not yet ready to be used mainstream with every VR headset, but for companies and organizations that use virtual reality training or simulations, it can be a very nice addition to the VR experience. We expect to hear and see a lot from SenseGlove in the near future and look forward to a new variant of the haptic gloves!

Click here to order the SenseGlove Nova directly.