By Ali Raza
I created a wearable glove controller that can be used to play in-browser games that use basic controls. I start by putting on the wearable glove controller and making sure it is completely tucked in. Touching the thumb with finger tips makes analog inputs high, changing to keyboard controls by the code. The fingertips are connected to analog inputs and the thumb is connected to the power supply. So, whenever the user touches thumb with a finger tip, the analog input becomes high. Analog inputs are connected to resistors, and the other end of the resistor is connected to ground. So, when the thumb is not touching the finger tip, the analog input is low. Right hand finger tips are used for up key, down key, spacebar and mouse click. Left hand fingertips are used for right key/mouse down (dual function), left key/mouse up (dual function), and enter key. Finger tips for both gloves are labeled for the keyboard function to make it user friendly.
The code:
The arduino code reads analog inputs and sends the keystroke or mouse click based on which analog input is high. I used keyboard.h and mouse.h library files in the program. I noticed while testing the games that up,down,right,left keys were moving the object very slowly. So, I decided to use multiple keyboard.write to make enough movement of the objects in the games. Since there are only 8 fingertips in two gloves, I made two finger tips dual functions. Mouse up and left key for one finger tip (one analog input), and mouse down with the right key. I also change parameters of mouse.move to have enough movement of the mouse for one of the games. For the game that can be played by two players, I used up/down keys and mouse up/down, up/down keys work for one player and mouse up/down works for the second player.
The Wearable Being Worn / Displayed
Video
Parts + Materials List
| Microcontroller | USB Cable | Alligator Clips + Alligator Clips to Jumper Cables | Resistors | Conductive Materials | Tape |
| Adafruit Circuit Playground Express | USB Adapter | 5x red Alligator Clips2x white Alligator Clips2x green Alligator Clips2x black Alligator Clips3x black Alligator Clips to Jumper Cables | 1x 1.0k Resistor5x 220k Resistors | 1x Conductive Thread1x Conductive Fabric | Squash Tape |
Link to Code:
https://github.com/GAMINGMADNESS21/GAMINGMADNESS21.git
Project Context
ARDUINO STACK EXCHANGE (November, 2018). How Do I Give the Enter
I wanted to incorporate the enter key functionality so I visited the website and incorporated the functionality onto the written program (Arduino).
Forum (September, 2022). IDE 2.x scrollbar issue. https://forum.arduino.cc/t/ide-2-x-
I used two controls with dual functions. Initially I used up key and mouse up for the same button, and down key with mouse down function. When testing one of the games, I realized that the up arrow was actually scrolling the display with mouse up movement. Same was happening down/mouse down. So, I decided to change the program so the right arrow key and mouse up worked with the control, and mouse down and left arrow worked together. Right/left arrow key still works when a game uses them, but the right and left arrow does not change the display.
LostMyFaithToScience (2014). How do I tell Arduino to press spacebar? https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/2d8nfo/how_do_i_tell_arduino_to_press_spacebar/?rdt=65074
I didn’t know how to use the spacebar functionality, so I used this website and incorporated the functionality onto Arduino.
Any additional items
Explanation of design choices
I used rubber gloves for the controls. With the gloves it was possible to have 7 controls (two of them have dual functions). Rubber gloves are flexible and easy to wear and take off. Also two gloves can be used by two different players.
- Any supporting illustrations or diagrams
20IFIXIT (n.d.). Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Repair. https://www.ifixit.com/
VGA (2023). XBOX WIRELESS CONTROLLER ELITE SERIES 2 – XBOX
ONE / XBOX SERIES X. https://videogamesplus.ca/products/xbox- wireless-controller-elite-series-2-xbox-one-xbox-series-x
Lessons learned / next steps
Initially, I used non stretchy cotton gloves and it was a difficult material to work with. It was hard to stick electronic components to those, and were not flexible, and electronic components didn’t stay on them. Later I used rubber gloves, which worked better. Also I made holes in them to make them more breathable. I implemented the mousemove function in the left and right arrow keys, but when I trigger that function, it scrolls down the page of a game. I wanted the player to move up and down. So, when I had that function incorporated into Arduino, I modified the code of the mousemove function (changed values of y) and then it worked.