One of the most exciting aspects of basic research in new areas is that you have no idea where it will lead. A few years ago, researchers in computing invented the data glove, a glove with movement sensors, as an input device to computer screens, much like a sophisticated version of the computer mouse. As the user’s gloved hand moved, flexed, or pointed, an animated hand on the screen would move, point, or choose. It could, for instance, operate a rocket launcher in a computer game, or grab and move a refrigerator in a kitchen design program.

Greenleaf’s research group has taken the concepts behind the data glove and used a version with more sophisticated sensors for human rehabilitation. The first use has been to determine qualitatively how freely an injured hand can move in three dimensions, rather than in the two-dimensional modes previously possible with the use of cameras. The second use has been to determine quantitatively and graphically how well an injured hand can perform functional tasks such as grasping a pencil.

The implications for diagnosis and rehabilitation are obvious. Not so obvious is the possibility of force-augmented actions: a permanently weakened wrist could be provided with a force multiplier. Also not so obvious is the possible use of gesture mapping for vocally impaired people, in which a hand motion such as waving a greeting could be translated by the computer into a voice-synthesized “Hello, this is Nancy” for telephone conversations.

This brief, well-illustrated article provides a clear description of an application of virtual reality that has a limitless future. I would have appreciated more references.