milo@ndmath.UUCP (Greg Corson) (01/15/90)
Has anyone out there figured out an interface that would allow the Nintendo
power-glove to be used with a Macintosh?
It seems that, while the power-glove is probably NOT as nice as a VPL dataglove,
it's probably good enough to use for little experiments and as a graphical
input/control device.
If I understand this gadget properly, it uses some sensors you mount to your
TV to sense the position of the glove in 3d space. Then I'm assuming there
are one or more sensors on each finger to sense bending of the joints.
If you have any info on how to hook a powerglove up to microcomputers of
any kind, I'd like to hear it. For that matter, I'd be interested in hearing
exactly what kind of sensors are built into the glove. Is there just one
switch on each finger, or several? Does it sense the orientation (pitch/roll)
of the glove in 3-space or just the glove's position?
Since the gadget is fairly cheap, it seems like it would be a natural choice
for a lot of graphics experiments, even if the technology isn't too fancy.
Greg Corson
19141 Summers Drive
South Bend, IN 46637
(219) 277-5306
{uunet, rutgers}!iuvax!ndmath!milo
milo@ndmath
GEnie: GCORSONjge@jason.cs.unc.edu (John Eyles) (01/20/90)
In article <1611@ndmath.UUCP> milo@ndmath.UUCP (Greg Corson) writes: >Has anyone out there figured out an interface that would allow the Nintendo >power-glove to be used with a Macintosh? I've heard that Nintendo "peripherals" use a proprietary data encryption scheme, which you can't get the spec on unless you sell your soul to Nintendo. The power-glove would transmit such encoded signals, so I think the interface you are proposing would be virtually impossible (without the cooperation of Nintendo).
dnewton@carroll1.cc.edu (Dave Newton the Late) (01/20/90)
In article <11531@thorin.cs.unc.edu> jge@jason.cs.unc.edu (John Eyles) writes: >I've heard that Nintendo "peripherals" use a proprietary data encryption >scheme, which you can't get the spec on unless you sell your soul to Nintendo. >The power-glove would transmit such encoded signals, so I think the interface >you are proposing would be virtually impossible (without the cooperation of >Nintendo). I think the encoding you're talking about is contained within the cartridges themselves, attempting to prevent unauthorized third-party game developers. If the PowerGlove transmits "encoded" signals, it shouldn't really matter, as every control on the glove would need a unique signature. So all you'd need to do is hook a data-catcher to the glove's outputs and watch. -- David L. Newton | uunet!marque!carroll1!dnewton (414) 524-7343 (work) | dnewton@carroll1.cc.edu (414) 524-6809 (home) | 100 NE Ave, Waukesha WI 53186 I'm looking for Tom Brown, Chem. Eng. major at UofIL, Junior. Tell him to call
bobc@attctc.Dallas.TX.US (Bob Calbridge) (01/21/90)
In article <1108@carroll1.cc.edu>, dnewton@carroll1.cc.edu (Dave Newton the Late) writes: > In article <11531@thorin.cs.unc.edu> jge@jason.cs.unc.edu (John Eyles) writes: > >I've heard that Nintendo "peripherals" use a proprietary data encryption > >scheme, which you can't get the spec on unless you sell your soul to Nintendo. > >The power-glove would transmit such encoded signals, so I think the interface > >you are proposing would be virtually impossible (without the cooperation of > >Nintendo). > > I think the encoding you're talking about is contained within the > cartridges themselves, attempting to prevent unauthorized third-party game > developers. > If the PowerGlove transmits "encoded" signals, it shouldn't really matter, > as every control on the glove would need a unique signature. So all you'd > need to do is hook a data-catcher to the glove's outputs and watch. Not being an expert on these sort of things, I'll still throw my two cents in. Suppose the encryption method had to do with combiations of glove movements. I'm not familiar with what you can do with the glove but I'll use an example that may not have any real relation to the facts but may illustrate the point. Suppose you bend finger 1 and finger 3. This combined with a quick twisting motion produces a unique signal. Adding finger 2 or replacing finger 1 or 3 with finger 2 may not produce an exactly predictable signal. Prior movements may add to the encryption. Only a special chip on the game cartridge could enterpret this and occasionally send a reset signal to start the encryption over again. Merely speculation though. -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = More stupid questions available on request from = - bobc@attctc Your humble servant (real humble) - =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
cdshaw@cs.UAlberta.CA (Chris Shaw) (01/23/90)
In article <1611@ndmath.UUCP> milo@ndmath.UUCP (Greg Corson) writes: >Has anyone out there figured out an interface that would allow the Nintendo >power-glove to be used with a Macintosh? > >It seems that, while the power-glove is probably NOT as nice as a VPL >dataglove, it's probably good enough to use for little experiments and as a >graphical input/control device. > >If I understand this gadget properly, it uses some sensors you mount to your >TV to sense the position of the glove in 3d space. Then I'm assuming there >are one or more sensors on each finger to sense bending of the joints. OK. Firstly, the PowerGlove is a cheapo version of the DataGlove, for a few reasons: 1) Only the proximal index finger joint is instrumented on the PowerGlove, while all five digits are instrumented at the two most proximal joints on the DataGlove. 2) The single joint on the PowerGlove returns only 4 data values, approximating finger bends of 0, 30, 60, and 90 degrees. The DataGlove will nominally give you 256 data values, although for practical purposes you will get values between -20 degrees and 120 degrees on the proximal joints, -5 and 100 degrees on the distal joints after a conversion from raw brightness values. 3) The PowerGlove has no position sensor, but does have a little button box on the wrist. The DataGlove usually comes with a Polhemus Isotrak 3D position and orientation sensor system, with the sensor box mounted on the back of the glove. A stand-alone Polhemus is $3000. 4) The Mattel people won't even tell VPL what their data format is, so you'll have to do some reverse engineering, I'm afraid. >Greg Corson -- Chris Shaw University of Alberta cdshaw@alberta.UUCP CatchPhrase: Bogus as HELL !
skip@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (Allen P Jr Haughay) (01/23/90)
In article <1990Jan22.223343.10773@cs.UAlberta.CA> cdshaw@cs.UAlberta.CA (Chris Shaw) writes: > >3) The PowerGlove has no position sensor, but does have a little button box >on the wrist. The DataGlove usually comes with a Polhemus Isotrak 3D position The power glove must have some kind of position sensor, or else, how does it translate the back and forth hand movements into 3D coordinates? It comes with some sort of device you put on top of the TV set. Skip Haughay ACIT-University of Delaware