AC08@vaxb.acs.unt.edu (07/25/90)
The current issue (July 1990) of _Byte_ magazine has a section on "Computing Without Keyboards," which covers the Power Glove and its input/output connections. It's on page 288, and it covers the timing pulses and connector wiring. C Irby U of North Texas ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** [Moderator's Note:] The citation referenced above is a "must read" for those who are not familiar with the various technologies utilized in this type of interface. As well as the Power Glove, the article also covers operational details of the Exos Dexterous Hand Master, VPL DataGlove and the Polhemus magnetic positioning systems. - Steve
jsurine@entec.Wichita.NCR.COM (James Surine) (08/01/90)
In article <5488@milton.u.washington.edu> AC08@vaxb.acs.unt.edu writes: > >The current issue (July 1990) of _Byte_ magazine has a section on >"Computing Without Keyboards," which covers the Power Glove and its >input/output connections. It's on page 288, and it covers the timing >pulses and connector wiring. > >C Irby >U of North Texas > Ok I got the sucker hooked now how do I get the "special high-resolution mode" as opposed to the "standard mode" that will give you only A B fire buttons and start select buttons and up/down/left/right buttons (emulating the Nintendo controller). 1. Is it a special program. 2. Do you just pulse out more than 8 bits before reseting the controller. 3. Do you need a special interface or actual different glove. 4. Do I call someone that can tell me at ATARI (I tried calling a couple of people at atari and they were unable to help) Jim -- +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ j.surine@Wichita.NCR.COM (Jim Surine) /\/\/\/\/\ NCR Peripheral Products Division, Wichita Kansas / / /\/\/\ \ \ work (316) 636-8586 home (316) 721-6280 / / / / /\ \ \ \ \
jsurine@entec.Wichita.NCR.COM (James Surine) (08/02/90)
Update: Well I finally talked to someone at ATARI that knows something. He said that they cannot release the information needed to get the power glove to switch to the enhanced mode only that it exists. He also said that a game that uses this (Power Ball or somthing, 3-D brickout) is coming out in a couple of months. Howard Eglowstein from Byte magazine who wrote the article reverse engineered the power glove to get the information to write the article. He is going to reverse engineer the "enhanced mode" when he gets a hold of that new game. (That is if the article doesn't get canceled by the editor) I the article about the east coast VR presentation with Leary they said they were using a power glove. Anyone know these guys to get them to reveil power glove secrets that they must have discovered. The reason ATARI cannot release this info is that the technology used to make it is not theirs and they are only licenced to use it on the Nintendo. The people at Atari would be happy to release this info so that we (real computer users) could use it on our computers but the people that own the rights are not so "Worldly Minded" as ATARI. All I have been able to figure out is that the Nintendo must signal the Power glove to switch to the enhanced mode somehow because the different programs don't seem to do it. If anyone can figure it out it's our friend at BYTE so send letters to BYTE so he doesn't get canned. (The guy at ATARI said that the Power Glove actually has a much better resolution than 1/4 inch at distances closer than 5 ft) -- +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ j.surine@Wichita.NCR.COM (Jim Surine) /\/\/\/\/\ NCR Peripheral Products Division, Wichita Kansas / / /\/\/\ \ \ work (316) 636-8586 home (316) 721-6280 / / / / /\ \ \ \ \ -- +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ j.surine@Wichita.NCR.COM (Jim Surine) /\/\/\/\/\ NCR Peripheral Products Division, Wichita Kansas / / /\/\/\ \ \ work (316) 636-8586 home (316) 721-6280 / / / / /\ \ \ \ \
wex@dali.pws.bull.com (Buckaroo Banzai) (08/06/90)
In article <618@entec.Wichita.NCR.COM> jsurine@entec.Wichita.NCR.COM (James Surine) writes:
Well I finally talked to someone at ATARI that knows something. He said
that they cannot release the information needed to get the power glove
to switch to the enhanced mode only that it exists. He also said that
a game that uses this (Power Ball or somthing, 3-D brickout) is coming
out in a couple of months.
We had Mattel doing a hands-on demo of this game at CHI'90. It's a pretty
neat game. Although it's the first game designed specifically for the power
glove, I don't think it uses that many "advanced" features.
(The guy at ATARI said that the Power Glove actually has a much better
resolution than 1/4 inch at distances closer than 5 ft)
It doesn't really matter, though, because at that range it blocks so much of
your view of the screen that you can't see what you're doing anyway. It
will take some fairly good hacking to make it work in another configuration.
--
--Alan Wexelblat phone: (508)294-7485
Bull Worldwide Information Systems internet: wex@pws.bull.com
Today is Hiroshima Day. Rest in peace 200,000+ innocentsjsurine@entec.Wichita.NCR.COM (James Surine) (08/09/90)
>In article <618@entec.Wichita.NCR.COM> jsurine@entec.Wichita.NCR.COM (James Surine) writes: > Well I finally talked to someone at ATARI that knows something. He said Actually I was talking to Mattel but my mind slipped and I wrote Atari. (I'd just finished talking with someone about the Atari LYNX and Atari stuck in my mind.) -- +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ +=+ j.surine@Wichita.NCR.COM (Jim Surine) /\/\/\/\/\ NCR Peripheral Products Division, Wichita Kansas / / /\/\/\ \ \ work (316) 636-8586 home (316) 721-6280 / / / / /\ \ \ \ \
jmunkki@hila.hut.fi (Juri Munkki) (08/12/90)
In <618@entec.Wichita.NCR.COM> jsurine@entec.Wichita.NCR.COM (James Surine): >Howard Eglowstein from Byte magazine who wrote the article reverse engineered >the power glove to get the information to write the article. He is going >to reverse engineer the "enhanced mode" when he gets a hold of that new game. >(That is if the article doesn't get canceled by the editor) If the article gets canceled, maybe we could get it published here. I'll have a PowerGlove to work with in a few weeks and it would be so much easier to use it, if I just had some kind of documentation. I wouldn't mind contributing a few $$ to someone for revealing this information, although I feel that it should have been freely available from the start. Someone wrote that the increased resolution near the screen wouldn't be of any use because the user's hand would be too close to the screen. As far as I know this can be solved by placing the detector somewhere else than around the screen. Shouldn't be any harder than moving a mouse to a new place. The address and FAX number of the company that designed the PowerGlove was posted in comp.graphics and I've been thinking of sending them a FAX. Has anyone tried this? Here's the information, just in case someone wants to try to contact them and missed it in comp.graphics: Abrams/Gentile Entertainment, Inc. (AGE) 244 West 54th Street, 9th Floor New York, NY 10019 (212) 757-0700 (212) 765-1987 FAX Virtual reality will probably have its first real breakthrough in CAD applications. We should work on getting CAD companies to support low- cost 3D display and input technologies. An improved Power Glove with a set of LC-shutter stereo glasses and a good solid modeling program would be ideal. When I have the glove working, I can start working on the modeling software. ___________________________________________________________________________ / Juri Munkki / Helsinki University of Technology / Wind / HP S / / jmunkki@hut.fi / Computing Center Macintosh Support / Surf / 48 X / ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
cdshaw@cs.ualberta.ca (Chris Shaw) (08/16/90)
Actually, since VPL won its lawsuit against AGE, VPL now has control of the Power Glove technology. VPL will be selling a RS232-based PowerGlove within two months or so. The price is supposed to be about $200 US. So the bottom line is... Don't bother with the reverse engineering, the real thing is just around the corner! -- Chris Shaw University of Alberta cdshaw@cs.UAlberta.ca Now with new, minty Internet flavour! CatchPhrase: Bogus as HELL !
seymour@milton.u.washington.edu (Richard Seymour) (08/18/90)
In article <1990Aug16.012545.10872@cs.UAlberta.CA> cdshaw@cs.ualberta.ca (Chris Shaw) writes: >... VPL now has control of the >Power Glove technology. VPL will be selling a RS232-based PowerGlove within >two months or so. The price is supposed to be about $200 US. > >So the bottom line is... Don't bother with the reverse engineering, the real >thing is just around the corner! somehow, at $200 vs. the current $70, it looks like the "real thing" just moved further down the street (or "up market" or "to high street" (UK usage)) IMvHO --dick