The Nintendo Power Glove, the failed VR gesture device that refuses to die #cyberpunk
If you’ve been following John Park’s explorations of the 1989 Nintendo Power Glove, you know something about the hardware behind this ambitious but sadly failed video game controller from the late 80s.
But do you know its origins as a byproduct of VPL’s Data Glove (VPL being the California company started by Jaron Lanier, the father of virtual reality)? During this cyberpunk series, we’ll be looking at a number of early VR devices, because you can’t really talk about early cyberpunk without talking about early VR.
What follows is an excellent 27-minute documentary on the history of the Power Glove from the folks at the Gaming Historian YouTube channel.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
