Tangible Tuesdays: Frontline Gloves

Kevin Cannon & Ashwin Rajan’s Frontline Gloves are a pair of networked gloves that allow firefighters to use hand gestures to communicate wirelessly in low-visibility, low-oxygen situations. The design incorporates customized electronics based on the ATMega chip, a wireless Xbee module, a sonar sensor, ultra-bright LEDs and bend sensors. The gloves allow the wearer to create simple messages by making physical gestures. The messages are then sent wirelessly to other wearers in the room.

Constant communication among firefighters is key to their safety and effectiveness.

Tangible Tuesdays features new finds in tactile interaction design each week. We’ll share a different discovery every Tuesday during Cooper-Hewitt’s exhibition of Shinichi Takemura’s Tangible Earth globe.