Manus Metagloves Pro Haptic

MANUS Metagloves Pro Haptic are professional measurement gloves that combine precise hand and finger tracking with haptic feedback. The system utilizes EMF (Electromagnetic Field) technology to measure the position and orientation of each finger, and five independently controlled vibration actuators, allowing the user to experience contact with objects in a virtual environment or during robotic teleoperation.

The gloves are designed primarily for robotics, teleoperation, hand movement research, creating datasets for artificial intelligence, XR simulations, and professional motion capture applications. The Pro Haptic model maps the hand using 25 degrees of freedom, creating a detailed digital model.

Technical Specifications

Finger Tracking
Measurement Technology: EMF (Electromagnetic Field)
Number of Sensors: 5 sensors located on the fingertips
Measurement of each sensor: 6 degrees of freedom, i.e.:
- 3 position axes,
- 3 rotation axes
Sampling Rate: 120 Hz
Motion Data Transmission Delay:
- Wired Connection: Approximately 30 ms,
- Wireless Connection: Approximately 50 ms
Sensor Housing Material: PA-12
Hand Model: 25 degrees of freedom
Measurement Immunity to Optical Sensor Obscuration: EMF tracking does not require line of sight of cameras
According to the manufacturer, the system does not exhibit the typical drift characteristic of some solutions based solely on inertial sensors.

Haptic Feedback
Number of haptic modules: 5 – one for each finger
Technology: LRA – Linear Resonant Actuator vibration motors
Feedback type: one-dimensional vibrotactile feedback
Intensity control: 256 levels for each finger
Control frequency: 120 Hz
Haptic latency:
- wired connection: approximately 4 ms,
- wireless connection: approximately 16 ms

Haptics primarily signal contact, event, or interaction intensity. They do not generate physical finger resistance or realistic pressure forces.

Connectivity
Wired connection: USB 2.0 Type-C
Wireless connection: proprietary MANUS Wireless Dongle
Receiver interface: USB 2.0 Type-A
Receiver communication protocol: Bluetooth 5.0
Declared range: up to 15 meters, depending on environmental conditions
Range extension and mobile operation possible: MANUS Bodypack Lite
External power supply supported via USB-C.

Power supply
Battery: replaceable
Battery model: Metagloves Pro Haptic Battery
Mounting: Snap Fit
Operating time: up to 3 hours of continuous use
Charging time: approximately 2 hours
Charging: USB-C, USB 2.0, 5 V / 0.5 A
Optional equipment: MANUS Charging Station
Batteries can be replaced during long sessions.
Weight and dimensions
Weight of one size M glove, including electronics and battery: approximately 178 g

Hand Module:

Height: 60.7 mm
Width: 78.2 mm
Depth: 34.3 mm

Finger Sensor:

Height: 20.3 mm
Width: 14.6 mm
Depth: 9.6 mm

Haptic Actuator:

Height: 12.5 mm
Width: 12.5 mm
Depth: 8.1 mm

Wireless Receiver:

Height: 27.8 mm
Width: 70.3 mm
Depth: 8.5 mm
Cable Length: 43 cm. Glove Construction
Type: Full-finger glove
Textile Material: 72% polyester, 28% spandex
Finger Sensors: Integrated into the material, but removable
Haptic Actuators: Integrated into the material, but removable
Sensor Cables: Fully enclosed in the glove
Electronic Module: Detachable and transferable between compatible textile gloves
Currently available sizes indicated by the manufacturer for the Haptic version: M and L
The glove material can be washed after removing the electronics and measuring elements.
Attaching an Additional Tracker

The gloves feature the MANUS Universal Mounting System, allowing for the attachment of an external positional tracker. The manufacturer documents, among other things, an adapter for the HTC Vive Ultimate Tracker.

An external tracker is needed when the system needs to determine not only the position of the fingers relative to the hand, but also the absolute position of the entire hand in space.

Software Required for Operation

MANUS Core 3
The core software is MANUS Core 3, which acts as an intermediate layer between the gloves and the target application.
MANUS Core is responsible for:
glove detection and configuration,
firmware updates,
hand calibration,
creating a digital hand skeleton,
real-time movement visualization,
data recording,
data export,
data transfer to external applications,
haptic information control,
plug-in and SDK support.

The system can share three basic types of data:
raw sensor data,
hand skeleton data,
data retargeted to a character model, robot, or virtual object.

Software License

The gloves can be connected and displayed in MANUS Core without a paid license, but without a license, data cannot be saved, exported, or transferred to other applications.

For practical professional use, purchasing the appropriate MANUS Core license is required. The manufacturer offers, among others:
MANUS Core 3,
MANUS Core 3 + SDK Access,
MANUS Core 3 + XR,
MANUS Core 3 + Xsens,
MANUS Core 3 + Optical,
MANUS Core 3 + Noraxon.
MANUS Core 3 licenses support up to eight actors, meaning eight users using pairs of gloves in a single instance of the program.

Integrations and Data Formats

Depending on the purchased license, available options include:
Unity – the manufacturer currently indicates support for Unity 6,
Unreal Engine – the manufacturer currently indicates support for version 5.6,
Autodesk MotionBuilder 2023,
OpenXR,
Autodesk VRED,
Siemens Teamcenter,
ESI IC.IDO,
Xsens MVN Animate,
Xsens MVN Analyze,
OptiTrack Motive,
Qualisys QTM,
Vicon,
Noraxon MR4,
Nokov XingYing,
FZMotion Motar,
Motion Analysis Cortex,
C++ SDK,
MANUS Core Integrated for Windows and Linux.

Supported features include:
session recording in MANUS .mrec format,
export to .fbx,
export to .csv,
real-time data transmission,
access to precise sensor position and orientation in the SDK license.