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There have been all sorts of video game controllers created over the years, but
most PC gamers still rely on their keyboard.
It's capable of putting dozens of commands right at your fingertips.
But the latest input device trying to crack the PC gaming market just might be good
enough to win over some keyboard traditionalists.
This is Peregrine, a gaming glove that's actually fast enough for serious gamers.
Instead of having to reach across the keyboard to hit awkardly placed hotkeys sometimes,
I instead have intuitive, short movements-
travel time reduced, accuracy 100%. I mean, I could do this all day long
with my eyes closed, I'm never going to miss it.
The washable glove is pretty low tech.
It's laced with simple conductors that can be connected together in a variety
of hand movements.
There three contact pads:
One on the palm of the hand, and two on the thumb.
Touch any of the eighteen finger points to a contact pad, and the glove sends a
unique action to the game.
Included software lets you calibrate and program the results of each touch.
So for the tip of the finger I have it clicked here and it shows all the hotkeys I have set up
for the tip of my finger.
If I want to touch the meat of the thumb one,
I can go ahead and bind these. I currently have it blank, but you know,
if you want to set one up. Though the developers say that the glove could be configured
for typing or design projects,
it's really designed for games that require lots of hotkeys: Games like
Heros of Newerth, Defense of the Ancients or World of Warcraft.
So I have all my character's different spells, her leap ability I have bound to my finger and my thumb;
contact pad pressing
for arrow ability bound to there;
Star Fall- just all my different skills accessible.
So is it hard to remember all the hand positions?
Not for Cyrus.
He says it only took a few hours to master the glove on one of his favorite games,
Warcraft 3. Some people came up, fans of the game that were skeptics and they sat
down one of the other pro gamers,
had him use the keyboard, me using the glove
and we went one-versus-one, and in the end I wound up beating him
I'm not saying it was because of the glove, but it shows that I was able to take all of my skill
and transfer it over,
and use it more comfortably, for sure, as well. So far the company's only developed a
A left-hand glove for PCs
which leaves the right hand free to control a mouse.
But both a right-handed version and a Mac-compatible glove are in the works.
The glove is priced at $150, but some players might find it
worth the cost.
In a pro-gaming situation,
a quarter-of-a-second difference could be the difference between life and death
so,
to me, I find it very valuable.
For IEEE Spectrum,
this is Josh Romero.