Waterproof electronic glove translates divers' gestures

One glove electronics that help communication divers while they are underwater was developed by researchers and disclosed in a study published in the American Chemical Society (ACS). The tool interprets the movements sends them over a wireless network and they are translated into messages .

When they need to communicate with their peers, to convey information such as “I'm fine” and “shark”, divers often use hand gestures that can be difficult to see. This new tool can help explorers pass their commands more clearly and be useful in recovering from accidents that cause motor damage.

In addition to helping communication between divers and boats on the surface, the glove can help with recovery from a stroke, for example, to reestablish fine motor skills.

To register the gestures, 16 movements made by divers were recorded and inserted into a computer using the machine learning technique — a type of artificial intelligence — that converts the movement of the sensors into messages. The accuracy obtained in the study was 99.8%.

The difficulty for researchers is to make the glove comfortable and waterproof. The receivers were placed in structures inspired by the feet of sea stars made by laser writing tools. A thin film of dimethyl polysiloxane (PDMS), a waterproof plastic commonly used in contact lenses, was used in the construction.

The sensors are about the size of a USB-C port and generate electronic signals when they detect a range of pressure, from the light touch of a dollar bill to the impact of water coming out of a garden hose. The researchers wrapped 10 of these waterproof sensors inside adhesive bandages and stuck them to the fingers and joints of the electronic glove.

Read the full study here.