This is an excerpt from W. Fenwick, G. Walker, C. Ross and J. Williams, " Fiber Optic Data Glove," ECE 4532: Design I, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mississippi State University, Fall 2003:

This solution will make many things possible. First, it will make it possible for ergonomics research to be done on motion captured by the motion capture system. Currently, ergonomics software exists in which motion can be simulated and analyzed for efficiency. If more accurate motion capture systems, and data gloves in particular, are developed, it will be possible to use actual human motion in ergonomics research in the future. Also, it will make very detailed virtual-reality based training systems possible. It will be possible for a company to train employees for work on an assembly line without ever taking the time or effort to send them to the production floor until they are fully trained and ready to begin work. This solution will also open the door to new levels of computer gaming and, in particular, virtual-reality based games.

Ergonomics research is one are in which this solution can be applied. The data glove can be applied to a number of different areas in ergonomics. One major area that would be impacted by such research is manufacturing. Data gloves could be used to capture the motion of a worker on an assembly line and then to analyze the efficiency of that worker.s movements. This analysis could be used to improve the efficiency of workers in a manufacturing plant.

Another important application of this ergonomic research is in product design. If such research is done, it will become possible to design products that require less movement, and thus less energy, to use. This type of ergonomics research could also be used to maximize the efficiency of control and instrument panels in vehicles, control rooms, and cockpits.

However, ergonomics research and analysis is not the only area that will be affected by the advent of data gloves that can accurately capture finger motion. Such gloves could be integrated into virtual environments as controls, enabling the user to pick up things in the virtual environment and move them around. One important application that will be made possible by this development is computer-based training. With the ability to track and record finger motion, systems can be designed and built that allow a company to train employees for certain tasks using virtual environments. It will be possible for a virtual model of an entire plant to be created and used with this motion capture technology for training.

Trainees can be monitored to see that they are performing the task correctly based on their motion that is captured by the data glove. If the trainee makes a mistake while training in the virtual environment, the company will not lose money. The production line does not have to be shut down because of a new employee.s mistake. Also, a substandard product is not produced because of this mistake. This reduces the number of mistakes on the production line due to training new employees, and thus reduces the work load for quality control personnel at the end of the production line.

If this data glove can be used as a control in virtual environments for training purposes, they can also be used for gaming and entertainment purposes. Technology that allows a user to interact with a video game using hand motions already exists, but most of these data gloves are large and bulky. They do not allow the user to move as he or she would move naturally. A new data glove that captures motion more accurately while allowing the user a wide range of motion and not intruding on or changing that motion will be a huge step forward in gaming technology.

Companies will be able to employ this technology to design products that are easier to use and require less energy to use. The products will be more user-friendly. Also, this motion-capture technology in the form of data gloves can be used to streamline their production processes so that they are more efficient. Each task in a production line can also be streamlined based on ergonomics research so that it takes less

Fiber Optic Data Glove Page 6 of 36 time and energy to perform. The net result of this technology will be that companies are able to save a great deal of time and money in training new employees as well as manufacturing their products.