The Basics

Back to Pulse Setup

Status LED

The LED light found on the back of the device displays the device status.

- Charging

- Bluetooth Pairing (Blinking)

- Bluetooth Disconnected

- Full Battery

- Medium Battery

- Low Battery

- Battery Depleted (Blinking)

Haptic Modules

Every glove consists of five Haptic Modules. Each module is responsible for the tracking and haptics of one single finger.


Variable Force Feedback

Each module functions as a virtual spring extending from the wrist to the fingertip. This "spring" can be dynamically modified to replicate various haptic experiences.

Examples

Here are a few examples showing how the spring endpoints can be manipulated to create different forces.

End to End

(Medium Force)

Ex: Squeezing a Sponge

Extended Past Fingertip 

(Low Force)

Default (Tracking Only)

Extended Past Wrist 

(High Force)

Ex: Squeezing a Balloon

Extended to Point

(Hard Stop)

Ex: Squeezing a Rock

Vibro-tactile Feedback

Modules can independently generate vibrations, and developers have the flexibility to adjust both the intensity and frequency of these vibrations, enabling a diverse array of effects. 


This capability can be combined with variable force feedback (VVF) to manipulate the focal point of the vibration. When the force value is elevated (indicating greater tension), the user will perceive the vibration closer to the fingertip. Conversely, when the force value is reduced, the vibration will be more noticeable in the user's wrist.

Hand Tracking

Every modules measures and reports two types of tracking data for any given finger: pull and splay.


Pull - How closed or curled one's finger is. This value is measured by the extension of white band stretching from the wrist to the fingertip. It is important the band always remains in tension for accurate tracking. There are a total of 10,000 datapoints between the ends of the band.


Splay - Side to side movement. This value is measured by the rotation of the module itself. Again, the band must be in tension for readings to be accurate. There is a resolution of 0.5° of splay per datapoint.

Communication

All communication is fully wireless with Pulse connecting to the host device as a Bluetooth LE Peripheral. To establish a connection please follow step 6 of the setup guide. Once connected, Pulse may be used as a standard Human Interface Device (HID.) There is a single input report for all tracking data updated at ~67Hz. Similarly, there is a one output report used for both vibrational and VFF haptic updates. From our testing, latency is between 5 and 15 milliseconds depending on the host device and environmental factors.

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