海角大神

A group of American soldiers is on patrol in hostile territory. Suddenly, the squad leader realizes they鈥檝e stumbled onto the edge of what may be a minefield and quickly gives a hand signal to halt. His troops don鈥檛 have to be watching him or even be able to see him to get his signal: They feel it as a vibration in a special belt or vest they鈥檙e wearing. Using a different set of hand signals, the leader then directs an unmanned robotic vehicle to investigate the possible mines, keeping his fighters out of harm鈥檚 way.

This futuristic scenario may not be far off. The battlefield is fast becoming a high-tech arena. But as soldiers use technology to gain a better understanding of their surroundings, they also risk being overloaded with information.

That鈥檚 where 鈥渉aptics,鈥� or tactile feedback technology, comes in. Fighters鈥� eyes and ears are being bombarded by data, not only the sights and sounds of the battlefield but information from audio and video sources. Rather than overwhelming the eyes and ears, haptics taps into a different sense. For example, it can collect data through motion controls or relay information through vibration.

Consumer products such as Apple鈥檚 iPhone and Nintendo鈥檚 Wii game controller have already adopted haptics, using sensors called accelerometers to pick up on spins, shakes, and button presses, then they respond with a buzz or vibration.

A new product called the AcceleGlove, which went on sale in May, capitalizes on the shrinking cost of accelerometers and rapid processing power. The glove is studded with accelerometers, which can track the movement of a hand and individual fingers. Altogether, they allow the wearer to control other devices, from robots to video games.

AnthroTronix Inc. of Silver Spring, Md., a research and development company, hopes to adapt its AcceleGlove for law enforcement, firefighting, controlling robots in space or in dangerous industrial settings, rehabilitation, hand-motion studies, telemedicine, and as a computer interface with video games and virtual reality.

At $499, 鈥測ou鈥檙e talking [about a price] that any grad student鈥� could afford to conduct research, says Cori Lathan, founder and CEO of AnthroTronix.

The glove could be a teaching tool for anything from learning American Sign Language to practicing a sensitive surgical procedure. Baseball players might use the glove to study their grip and throwing motion.

鈥淥ur hope is that the [video] gaming community will develop applications,鈥� Ms. Lathan says. If the gloves are produced in large quantities, she anticipates the price could drop to about $200 each.

Right now, AnthroTronix is 鈥減robably right in the middle of the valley of death鈥� for being adopted by the military 鈥� beyond the research phase but waiting for an actual order, Lathan says. The company currently receives research funding from the US Army, Navy, and Air Force and has received money from the Department of Defense鈥檚 research-and-development agency.

For modern soldiers, 鈥渕anaging all the information that鈥檚 out there is almost overwhelming when you鈥檙e supposed to be focused on your own safety on patrol,鈥� says Gerry Mayer, director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories in Cherry Hill, N.J. 鈥淎nd with robots, you have to have a dedicated amount of time and energy to maneuver the robot, and you鈥檙e taking away from your own safety. So if you don鈥檛 have capabilities such as these that AnthroTronix is working on, we鈥檙e going to cause the soldiers on patrol to take time away from the serious business that they鈥檙e in and spend time managing either information or robots.鈥�

Sensors in the gloves could 鈥減assively鈥� pass along other vital information, says Jack Vice, president and cofounder of AnthroTronix. For example, they could keep track of how much ammunition soldiers have fired and alert a platoon commander that his troops are running low.

Assuming the AcceleGlove catches on, the company wants to develop a new version that will include more accelerometers to capture motion with even higher fidelity and a digital compass that could reveal which direction it is pointed. A robot could be instructed, 鈥淗ey, go that direction 300 meters,鈥� using signals from the glove alone, says Mr. Vice, who served as part of a Marine infantry special operations unit for six years.

While other companies are working on glove-based controllers, AnthroTronix 鈥渟eems to be about the furthest along in having a practical, useful system,鈥� says Mr. Mayer, who has teamed up with AnthroTronix on a number of projects.

A potential investor is impressed. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 the future.... Look at how we鈥檙e flying those armed drones: You have people in the United States who are flying planes in Iraq. It鈥檚 pretty amazing,鈥� says Andrew Sachs, the founder and managing director of Sachs Capital, a private equity fund in Bethesda, Md., who has followed AnthroTronix for several years and is considering investing.

鈥淭he applications are endless when you think about interacting with things,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just starting to figure this stuff out and what the possibilities are.鈥�

In the years ahead, Lathan says, such gloves could become a kind of 鈥渧irtual mouse鈥� controlling much of the way we interact with computers and machines, much in the way the futuristic movie 鈥淢inority Report鈥� depicted.

But the keyboard and mouse might still be used for a long time to come, especially to enter text. 鈥淭he QWERTY keyboard was designed [in the 19th century] to be completely inefficient so that you didn鈥檛 jam typewriter [keys],鈥� Lathan says. And yet we can鈥檛 get rid of it. 鈥淲e鈥檒l still have a keyboard. We鈥檒l still have a mouse. Maybe it will all be virtual.鈥�