Wearable technology and sci-fi futurism always seem to go together, hand in glove, as it were. Looking like something from the movie Minority Report, the Peregrine Glove ($149.99 list) brings the future to you today. The Peregrine Glove is a wearable interface, with limited keyboard functionality, similar to the Razer Nostromo Keypad ($59.99 street, not rated), but worn like a glove, similar to the ION Wireless Air Mouse ($79.95 direct, 3 stars). It may be made for gamers, but this sleek glove will catch people's attention wherever it's used, even if the uses are limited.
Design The glove is made of spandex and nylon mesh, with a Velcro closure at the wrist. Comfort is always a big worry with any gadget that is worn rather than handled, but the Peregrine is snug-fitting and well-ventilated. The snug black fabric has special conductive fabric patches on the thumb and palm, and steel micro-wound springs (they almost look like guitar strings) running along each finger, with designated touch points along the joints of each finger. When these points are touched by one of the conductive patches, it registers much like a traditional keyboard key.
There are a total of 18 touch-points on the fingers of the glovefive each, except for the pinky finger, which only gets three. The 18 touch-points of the glove can be used to activate more than 30 different keyboard functions, depending upon whether they are touched by the thumb tip, the thumb pad, or touched to the palm.
The glove uses USB 2.0just as a regular keyboardbut connects to the glove inputs with a magnetic pod that attaches to the back of the glove. This magnetic attachment allows the connection to break away if you suddenly throw your hands up in victory, but it also lets you easily disconnect and walk away from the computer without having to unstrap and remove the glove itself. A glowing LED glows and pulses to tell you that the pod is attached and powered on. The pod can also be customized using replaceable faceplates and changes to the color and patterns of the LED.
Features The Peregrine can also be customized using the downloadable GloveBox software, which lets you calibrate the glove, map touch-point locations for greater comfort, program functions to your liking, and tweak LED settings. Installation and set-up takes only a minute, but the glove can also be used as a plug and play device, skipping calibration and using the default keymap.
The software may also present the easiest way to learn how to use the glove. It gives you an image of the glove, with a full map of the various touch-points and activation pads, and as you do your thumb and finger dance, it shows you what touch-points are being activated. You can also remap the interface to the functions of your choosing, and adjust the specificity of the sensors, letting you widen the touchable area of each touch-point.
Performance The Peregrine is not designed to replace your keyboard for regular typing, but instead to take some of those functions and put them into an intuitive, wearable interface. Initially, while I liked the idea of the Peregrine, I found the glove too difficult to use. The default keymap was too random, with too many functions requiring too many acts of finger acrobatics. Between the 18 touch points and three activation pads, you have more than 30 unique functions available to you, and that's simply too many for me to keep straight in my head. It made for a steep learning curve, only made worse by the fact that certain functions required contortions that my digits are unable to perform.
Once I started fiddling with the accompanying GloveBox software, I started to change my mind. The calibration tools helped me to get the settings adjusted more to my liking, and the on-screen glove with highlighted touch points makes it easier to see what works and what doesn't. Even better, I was able to remap the various functions to the few points that were comfortable for me to use, and arrange them in a way that was intuitive and comfortable for me.
Before long, I was using the glove to pilot my ship in Star Trek Online. Switching to a keymap with easy access to WASD controls had me playing Portal and Team Fortress 2, albeit awkwardly. The ideal application for this gadget is MMO and RPG gaming, where it's most helpful to have a wide selection of keys literally at your fingertips. Twitchy FPS games won't be the best fit.
In the end, the Peregrine glove is a cool device, and a fascinating study in what does and doesn't work in wearable technology. If you just want a one-handed portable keyboard, try the Lenovo Mini Wireless Keyboard N5901 ($59.99 list, 3.5 stars). For the hardcore MMO player with money to burn, the Peregrine Glove may enhance gameplay, and will definitely have some cool factor, but due to both the cost and the steep learning curve, casual and FPS gamers would do better to pass it up.
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Peregrine Glove
