P5 gesture-recognition glove coming soon

Essential Reality has announced that the P5 glove, which was first shown publicly at GDC 2001, will be released next month. The P5 is a gesture-recognition glove that tracks hand motions and translates them into direct actions inside a 3D gameworld. Essential Reality bills the forthcoming P5 as the first widely available hand-worn controller that gives users interaction with 3D environments. The P5 is based in part on the idea of Nintendo's PowerGlove for the NES, and Essential Reality acquired the rights to the PowerGlove as well as the technology behind that early attempt at a consumer VR controller.

The P5 glove has been engineered to capture movements and bends from all five fingers, allowing for gesture recognition that will capture the movement of the hand in 3D space. The P5 glove should allow users to walk through 3D rooms and pick up objects with lifelike hand motions. The fingers and hand movements are captured independently so that finger movements can register as button presses.

While the P5 can function in mouse mode right out of the box, Essential Reality says it is designed to deliver an enhanced experience that frees game players from the constraints of keyboards and mice. As a result, while the P5 will work with almost any game, Essential Reality says its true power is fully realized only when used in conjunction with games that have been specially programmed for it.

The first iteration of P5 gloves are set to arrive in stores on October 21 for a suggested retail price of $149. This initial product is specifically PC compatible and will come bundled with three P5-enabled games, which have yet to be announced. The P5 glove connects via a USB port and Essential Reality says that the P5 glove will be compatible with recent versions of Windows as well as Mac OS X. The P5 should work with consoles with USB compatibility, though the specific console version of the P5 won't be introduced until summer 2003.