SenseGlove Nova 2

The SenseGlove Nova 2 is a professional wireless haptic glove set designed for VR/XR simulation, research, procedural training, prototyping, and robot control. The gloves not only track finger movement but also limit finger bending, generate vibrations, and pressure on the hand. This allows the user to experience the approximate size, stiffness, contact, and impact of virtual objects.

The SenseGlove Nova 2 is a hardware and software platform for companies, universities, laboratories, and integrators developing their own applications in Unity, Unreal Engine, C++, C#, or the Robot Operating System.

Key Features
Force Feedback: Four passive magnetic brakes limit bending of the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers.
Active Contact Feedback: Active palm pressure: A motorized strap tightens across the palm, simulating contact with an object.
Vibrotactile Feedback: Separate actuators on the thumb, index, and both sides of the hand.
Finger tracking: Measures finger flexion and thumb abduction and adduction.
Wireless connectivity: Bluetooth, with the current firmware using Bluetooth Low Energy.
Replaceable Softglove 2 textile part: Available in three sizes.
Integration with popular environments: Unity, Unreal Engine, native API, and ROS.

Technical Specifications

Haptics and Hand Tracking

- Force Feedback: 4 x 1 DoF for the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers.
- The little finger does not have independent force feedback; its movement is linked to the movement of the ring finger.
- Resistance Force: The manufacturer claims a maximum of 20 N per finger.
- The datasheet lists a maximum value of 24 N, with quality control guaranteeing a minimum of 20 N, and 24 N being the target value primarily for the thumb and index finger.
- Resistance Control: 100 program levels, but the manufacturer indicates that the user typically experiences approximately 10–15 distinct levels of stiffness.
- The mechanism is passive: the glove can stop further finger bending but does not actively move or extend the user's finger. - The active hand strap can shorten by approximately 5 mm and generate up to 20 N of force.
- Four LRA actuators:
thumb,
index finger,
thumb side of the palm,
little finger side of the palm.
- Actuator resonance frequency: approximately 170–180 Hz.
- Finger tracking: 6 DoF, or six degrees of freedom for finger movement:
2 DoF for the thumb,
2 DoF for the index finger,
1 DoF for the middle finger,
1 DoF for the ring finger.
- Tracking cable extension reading: approximately 60 Hz.
- Orientation sensor: a nine-axis IMU system comprising an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer.
- Calibration required at the beginning of each session and when changing users.

DoF — Degree of Freedom refers to the degree of freedom, meaning the independent direction or type of movement that can be measured or controlled. 
LRA — Linear Resonant Actuator is a linear resonant actuator that generates precise vibrations. 
IMU — Inertial Measurement Unit is an inertial measurement unit that determines the orientation and motion of a device.

Power and Communication

- Lithium-ion battery: approximately 3400–3490 mAh, depending on the documentation version.
- Typical operating time: approximately 3 hours of simulation.
- Charging time from 10 to 80%: approximately 1.5 hours.
- Charging: USB-C; the included charger allows for simultaneous charging of both gloves.
- Communication: 2.4 GHz wireless.
- Communication update rate: approximately 60–90 Hz.
- Firmware 2.x uses BLE – Bluetooth Low Energy; the manufacturer recommends upgrading from the older Bluetooth Classic for easier pairing and better compatibility with Quest devices.

Weight and Design

- Official materials are not fully consistent:

Technical datasheet from June 2024: approximately 350 g per glove;

User Manual: approximately 390 g per glove.
- Therefore, for ergonomic planning, a range of approximately 350–390 g per hand should be considered, plus the weight of the controller or external tracker.

Sizes
- The Softglove 2 is available in three sizes.
- The Hub electronic module is size-independent.
- Adjustment is achieved by replacing the textile part.
- The manufacturer recommends carefully measuring the length and width of your hand before ordering.
- If the length and width of your hand are two different sizes, the manufacturer suggests considering the smaller size for better haptics.

Required Software

SenseCom

SenseCom is responsible for communicating between the gloves and the computer.
Required for Windows or Linux.
On standalone Android devices, the communication function can be built directly into the application.
It allows for checking the connection, glove status, calibration, and diagnostics.
On Windows, the required Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime is also installed.

Development Environments
Unity 2020.3 or later.
SenseGlove Unity Plugin version 2.6 or later for Nova 2.
Unreal Engine with SenseGlove Unreal Plugin version 2.0 or later.
Native API for C++.
C# APIs and libraries.
ROS 1 Noetic.
ROS 2 Jazzy, especially for robotic and teleoperation projects.
Target platforms: Windows, Linux, and Android.
OpenXR integration is possible in Unity and Unreal Engine.

SDK — Software Development Kit is a package of libraries, sample projects, and tools needed to create an application that supports the gloves.

API — Application Programming Interface is an interface that allows the application to control haptics and read data from sensors.

ROS — Robot Operating System is a set of tools and libraries used to build robotic systems.

Compatibility with VR headsets

Best documented configurations:
Meta Quest 3 — Unity and Unreal Engine.
Meta Quest Pro — Unity and Unreal Engine.
Meta Quest 2 — can be used with Quest Link, but operation of two gloves in standalone BLE mode is limited by the Bluetooth capabilities of this model.
HTC VIVE Focus 3, Focus Vision, and XR Elite — with VIVE Wrist Tracker or VIVE Ultimate Tracker.
HTC VIVE Pro 1/2 and Valve Index — with VIVE Tracker.
Pico 4 — with Pico Motion Trackers.
Pico 3 - support depends on, among other things, the Pico system version and the chosen development environment.