Finexus doesn't rely on a direct line of sight between electromagnets and sensors. Oculus and University of Washington have teamed up to develop Finexus, a system that combines fingertip electromagnets and sensors to track hand movements. (via Finexus)
Virtual reality has been a dream for many after being presented is various movies, including Back to the Future. Some companies have tried to make VR a reality, but it often involves weird controllers, clunky headgear, or special gloves. That may be about to change thanks to the latest development from Oculus and University of Washington researchers. The two have come together to develop Finexus, a system that uses a combination of fingertip electromagnets and sensors to track your hands.
The projected is the brainchild of University of Washington graduate student Keyu Chen, who started it while he was an intern at Oculus Searcher in Redmond, Washington last summer. He envisions the goal of Finexus to be used for games and other tasks that require delicate finger motions, like playing virtual piano, painting, of writing in the air.
In a sense, yes, you're wearing tiny magnets on your fingers similar to a glove. It works by employing four magnetic sensors to track fingernail sized electromagnets placed on the fingertips. It then detects the distances between each finger and the sensor and uses the intersection of each distance to locate a finger's exact 3D position. Currently, it's pretty accurate within 1.3 millimeters. What makes it different from other tracking systems is it doesn't need a direct line of sight between the electromagnet and the sensor. This mean even if the electromagnets are obscured on your hand, Finexeus should be able to detect your finger movements.
There are some limitations to the system though. One thing is in its current form Finexus is pretty clunky and fragile looking. One wrong move and it seems like it can snap off. Also, it requires a sensor that needs to sit less than five feet away from the system. The maximum distance between the sensors and electromagnets is only 12 centimeters, which isn't a very wide range. The team is aware of these issues and are already hoping to make vast improvements for the next iteration of the system. They hope to build Finexus into a glove and wristband or even a wristwatch for use. They also believe it's possible to increase its distance to 25 centimeters.
Of course the kinks and bugs are still being fixed on Finexus, so what's the next step for the team? Chen wants to refine the hardware and making it even smaller. After that, he's not sure what will happen. “I do not know if [Oculus is] going to put this in a future product, but that is one possibility,” he says. Until there are some new developments about this project, we'll have to stick with headsets like The Rift. Unless you have an old Virtual Boy kicking around, but the massive headaches aren't worth it.
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