Revolutionary Smart Gloves Enhance Hand Mobility for Stroke Survivors. In a groundbreaking collaboration between UBC and a Vancouver startup, a cutting-edge washable wireless smart textile technology has been developed, presenting promising applications not only in stroke rehabilitation but also in realms such as virtual reality and American Sign Language translation.
This innovative technology takes the form of a "smart glove," specifically designed to aid stroke survivors in their recovery journey. The glove, created by UBC electrical and computer engineering professor Dr. Peyman Servati and his team at Texavie, utilizes a network of highly sensitive sensor yarns and pressure sensors intricately woven into a stretchy fabric. This enables the glove to accurately track and wirelessly transmit even the minutest hand and finger movements during rehabilitation exercises.
Dr. Janice Eng, a leading stroke rehabilitation specialist and UBC professor of medicine, oversees the testing of this groundbreaking smart glove with a group of stroke survivors in B.C. The glove's sophisticated technology allows for precise monitoring of hand and finger movements without the need for cameras, offering a non-intrusive and efficient approach to rehabilitation.
With this glove, we can screen patients' hand and finger developments without the requirement for cameras. We can then investigate and adjust their activity programs for the most ideal outcomes, in any way," makes sense to Dr. Eng.
One of the significant breakthroughs highlighted by Dr. Servati is the exceptional accuracy of the glove, capable of tracking hand and finger movements and grasping force without relying on motion-capture cameras.
The machine learning models incorporated into the technology enable the glove to determine the angles of all finger joints and the wrist with unparalleled precision and speed. It boasts a remarkable 99-percent accuracy, comparable to expensive motion-capture cameras.
Notably, the smart glove distinguishes itself from other products in the market by being wireless, comfortable, and easily washable after battery removal. Dr. Servati envisions a smooth transition of the glove into the consumer market, foreseeing continuous improvements and potential applications in virtual reality, augmented reality, animation, and robotics.
He makes sense of, "Imagine having the choice to definitively get hand improvements and collaborations with objects and have it thusly show on a screen. There are vast applications. You can type text without requiring an actual console, control a robot, or make an interpretation of American Communication via gestures into composed discourse continuously, giving more straightforward correspondence to people who are hard of hearing or nearly deaf." This inventive brilliant glove holds a guarantee for stroke survivors as well as opens up a universe of opportunities for improving hand versatility and correspondence across different spaces.