OMG-VR: Open-source Mudra Gloves for Manipulating Molecular Simulations in VR
This provides a low-cost, open-source tool for research scientists and students to interact with molecular simulations in VR, though it is incremental compared to existing VR controllers and data gloves.
The paper introduces OMG-VR, open-source etextile gloves that sense finger pinches to manipulate molecular simulations in VR, enabling scientists to perform complex spatial tasks with good tracking accuracy and no calibration.
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. Here we describe Open-source Mudra Gloves for Virtual Reality (OMG-VR): etextile gloves designed to facilitate research scientists and students carrying out detailed and complex manipulation of simulated 3d molecular objects in VR. The OMG-VR is designed to sense when a user pinches together their thumb and index finger, or thumb and middle finger, forming a "mudra" position. Tests show that they provide good positional tracking of the point at which a pinch takes place, require no calibration, and are sufficiently accurate and robust to enable scientists to accomplish a range of tasks that involve complex spatial manipulation of molecules. The open source design offers a promising alternative to existing controllers and more costly commercial VR data gloves.