Virtual reality is hard to distinguish from real-life, but pushing a button on a controller to interact with objects sure feels different than using your whole hand. Gijs den Butter has the missing piece of the puzzle: the Sense Glove.
Sense Glove co-founder Gijs den Butter demonstrating his exoskeleton glove. (Photo: Chris Reichard)
Nowadays, virtual reality is hard to distinguish from real-life in terms of visuals and audio, but pushing a button on a controller to interact with objects sure feels different than using your whole hand. Industrial Design graduate, Gijs den Butter (26), has the missing piece of the puzzle: Sense Glove, an exoskeleton ‘glove’ which enables users to experience touch in a virtual environment.
When squeezing a ball in virtual reality (VR), for instance, Sense Glove provides force feedback, meaning that the person wearing the device will feel increasing pressure. “Your fingers and brain behave just like in real life,” says Den Butter. “It will allow companies to replace regular training by VR training, which is useful when using expensive equipment. Think about the navy teaching new recruits what to do during a power outage at sea. Keeping a battleship in the harbour for training is not an option. But it is crucial that the sailors know exactly which button to push and which switch to flip. Sense Glove enables them to train these precise movements.”
‘We had to start all over again to build a network’
Sense Glove started in 2015 as an exoskeleton hand to aid the rehabilitation of stroke patients. Although its main investor believed in the technology, it proved to be an unattractive business model. Den Butter: “Without ten-year long trials, insurances would not cover the product. VR was becoming a big thing, so we decided to change focus. Our investor was instantly convinced of the potential, but we had to start all over again to build a network.”
“We currently have enough funding for the first series, a development kit, which will be shipped out in the coming months. Operations will be a challenge: we don’t yet know what it will be like to have products all over the world that need to be serviced. On top of this we are raising funds for the second batch. Eventually we will become self-sustainable.”
- Study: Industrial Design Engineering
- Founders: Gijs den Butter (26) and Johannes Luijten (33)
- Employees: Four employees
- Turnover: 100,000 (first quarter of 2018)
- Target consumers: Developers of virtual reality and consumer goods companies.
- Five years: Sense Glove’s technology is implemented throughout all VR training.
Elise Mooijman is a freelance journalist
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