Hands-On With bHaptics TactGlove DK3

Made by bHaptics, a company mostly known for its TactSuit haptic vests, this new product promises to extend feedback to wrists, palms and fingers. So is it any good?

Short verdict: Hugely improved, genuinely clever, but not what the marketing materials suggest.

From DK1 to DK3: A Redemption Arc?

Before we dive in, let me mention I had a chance to try the original DK1 version of TactGlove back in 2023. Back then it was very disappointing. Feedback was barely perceptible, binary, and totally mismatched with what was happening on the screen. Compared to TactSuit, the gloves were an underwhelming experience, and I decided to largely ignore bHaptics’ new offering.

Now, three years later, it was time to give TactGlove a chance at redemption.

Tactile Illusion Algorithm

There are many ways to create tactile feedback. SUBPAC uses deep bass frequencies. OWO relies on electrical stimulation. In the case of bHaptics, it is mostly actuators. There are many types of actuators: ERM, VCA, and LRA. Without going into details, they differ in response times, fidelity, and power consumption, but generally, they all offer a buzzing, vibrating sensation, similar to the one used in haptic controllers.

TactGlove utilizes eight haptic motors across the fingertips, palm, and wrist, but it cleverly modulates the strength of these motors to create an illusion of having many more points of contact than just these eight. For example, the motor at the base of the palm might gradually weaken its vibration, while another one on the fingertip might become proportionally stronger. Combined with visual cues in the headset, this creates the impression that the stimulus is traveling across the user’s palm. The team at bHaptics calls this system the Tactile Illusion Algorithm.

Hand Tracking

Another interesting feature of the latest version is that it utilizes hand tracking. All the heavy lifting in this regard is done by the headset (Quest 3 in my demo, but Apple Vision Pro and Samsung Galaxy XR are also supported). TactGlove basically tricks the headset into thinking you are bare-handed, and with this, it removes the need for any additional sensors. This is a neat solution that not only makes it easier for bHaptics but also benefits potential customers, for example, training and educational companies, that might want to add haptic feedback to reflect a button press or a trigger pull.

Hands-on Demonstration: Fixing a Spaceship, Petting a Cat

At AWE, bHaptics had an entire mini-game designed to make the most of TactGlove. I was put in charge of a ship that had suffered damage during interstellar travel. To fix it I had to pull levers, push buttons, turn knobs, fix a leaking pipe, put an energy ball back in place, and pet a cat.

Comparing DK3 to DK1, it is obvious that the team made big improvements. The feedback is stronger and more sophisticated. However, users expecting realistic sensations might be disappointed. The feedback is there, but far from what the promotional materials claimed. I could not feel “each strand of the cat’s fur” as I petted it. In fact, I could not even feel any directional feedback. Regardless of how I approached the cat, I would always get a pretty uniform buzzing sensation across my entire palm.

Turning a valve or pulling a lever provided me with buzzing feedback across my hand, which worked as an instant acknowledgement that I was performing the task correctly. Just as with petting the cat, this was rather a uniform sensation with little granularity. There is obviously no resistance mechanism, so turning a valve did not result in any exertion, but the glove attempts to simulate weight and resistance by modulating the strength of feedback.

In terms of similarity to the real world, feeling the water drops land on my palm was probably the closest, followed by button pressing. Generally, highly localized, punchy sensations were handled more convincingly. The broader, more complex ones would usually result in one big generic vibration.

Speaking of button pressing, I would only receive feedback when using my index finger. Pressing buttons with any of the other fingers did not generate any response, but my understanding is that it might have been a software bug rather than a limitation of the TactGlove.

Price and Verdict

While TactGlove is considered a developer kit, from my firsthand experience I would say it is a fully functional, market-ready product. The price is $349, which suggests a business rather than consumer orientation. Gamers and enthusiasts will most likely prefer to start with TactSuit, which costs $289 (or $529 for the Pro model), or go with the OWO suit, which costs around $450.

So who is the TactGlove for? From a commercial perspective, it can benefit:

• Companies that rely on VR/XR for education or training and want to integrate tactile feedback into their methods. This can be done to enhance muscle memory and information retention, or to make the learning process more intuitive and natural.
• Large-scale venues and LBEs that rely specifically on hand tracking and want to enhance immersion and interactivity without adding too much friction. At AWE, participants were asked to put on thin disposable gloves first, but the process was nearly instant, and TactGlove did not seem to collect any moisture despite heavy use on the expo floor.

Hope you found this review useful. Have a great day and keep on rocking in the XR world.