Development of a programmable digital glove

We present a programmable digital glove aimed to assist handicapped aphasiacs. Other than being mechanically simple, economic and robust, it is capable of fine-tuning the motion range and sensitivity to meet practical needs among patients through manipulating the optical flux and the topology of the glove. When further equipped with a letter input matrix system, it allows much faster letter keying. In fact, the developed glove can instantly bring great improvement to a patient's communications skill and thus reinstate his or her life anew, so long as he or she still possesses barely movable and bendable fingers. It is foreseeable that those hindered by speech problems, especially those further suffering from physical disabilities, may also be the extended beneficiaries of this evolving technology as it may likely become a new viable tool for communication, in addition to the traditional sign language.