Gaming glove development tools expected next month

One of the more unusual technology demonstrations at this past July’s Macworld Expo in New York City was that of Essential Reality, which had a booth in the games area at the show. The company was showing off its P5, a glove peripheral designed for games and 3D graphics. Now the company has announced the pending availability of its Software Development Kits (SDKs) for the P5. They’re coming in November.

Essential Reality Vice President Martin Currie said that response to the P5 has been overwhelming, so they’re stepping up their schedule to bring developers on board. Availability will be limited, though, so he advises software developers interested in using the SDKs to e-mail him immediately to be put on the list.

Essential Reality plans support for Mac OS X. Other platforms to be supported include various flavors of Windows and game consoles.

The P5 itself is worn like a glove. Users control action in 3D games by making hand gestures — pull your trigger finger, for example, and fire your weapon on screen. The device utilizes proprietary bend sensor and tracking technologies to operate.