As VR finds increasing application in scientific research domains like nanotechnology and biochemistry, we are beginning to better understand the domains in which it brings the most benefit, as well as the gestures and form factors that are most useful for specific applications.

The Open-source Mudra Gloves for VR (OMG-VR) are etextile data gloves designed to facilitate research scientists and students carrying out detailed and complex manipulation of simulated 3d molecular objects in VR.

The gloves are part of a larger research study investigating strategies to move beyond controller-based interaction in VR – ultimately we want to simply reach out, touch, and move simulated molecular objects using our hands and fingers. The OMG-VR glove enables scientists to use their proprioceptive sense to ‘reach out and feel’ molecules.

Accurately Sensing Virtual Objects

As we have made progress developing VR technology that enables participants to interact with complex molecular structures in real-time, several participants have reported their ability to ‘sense’ the flexibility of different molecular physics simulations. On a few occasions, they have commented that plastic handheld VR controllers limited their ability to accurately sense the mechanical properties of the simulated molecular objects. Such reports have inspired us to investigate mechanisms for enabling users to manipulate simulated molecular objects, without mediation by a controller. From a scientific research and educational perspective, it is advantageous to design VR frameworks that researchers and students can use to develop an accurate sense of a molecule’s dynamics and flexibility. As an alternative to controllers, we have begun to explore the use of gloves, building on previous work where gloves have been used to enable people to “touch” virtual objects.

Our tests to date suggest that the OMG-VR design is effective for undertaking complex spatial molecular manipulation tasks in VR. Compared to commercial gloves we trialed, complex tasks like molecular knotting (see video above) are considerably smoother and less error prone using our glove design. They require less hardware, no calibration, are much cheaper, and one size fits a wide range of hand sizes. In terms of user comfort, the silver plated Etextile material feels lighter and less cumbersome than the thicker commercial material. Positioning the tracker on the back of the hand minimizes error in hand tracking, enabling more specificity of hand angle and location, and smoother hand motion. Combined, these create a more embodied sense of molecular manipulation compared to the handheld room scale VR controllers.

An Open Source APPROACH

As an alternative to commercially available gloves, we took inspiration from open-source data glove designs to design low cost gloves (ranging between $50-100 not including trackers), designed so that they can be made in-house.

Our open-source design is supported by comprehensive online documentation. This enables users and makers to understand how the glove works, build a glove tailored to their skillset, choose materials that are more readily available, and adapt and develop their gloves to make iterative improvements for the benefit of the open source community, offering a robust and viable application specific alternative to the expensive commercial models. Developing in-house skills though the open source approach makes maintenance and repair easier. We are currently developing tutorials showing alternate construction, repair methods, and a “nosew” version, constructed by modifying pre-constructed gloves, and testing with our user community.