Fujitsu Develops Glove-Style Wearable Device

Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. today announced that it has developed a wearable device in the form of a glove, equipped with a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag reader and that features gesture-based input for maintenance and other on-site operations.

Smartphones, tablets, and other smart devices have made work more efficient by digitizing the process of activity-logging, and attempts have been made to use them to support work outside of office environments.

But in some work settings, such as those that require gloves to be worn or environments in which hands get dirty, taking out and using a conventional smart device can be difficult. Another hurdle is that users need to stop what they are doing in order to use their smart device.

With the Fujitsu Laboratories-developed wearable device, users can receive work instructions and other information, just by taking the natural action of touching an object. Task results can also be input using gestures so that operations can be carried out smoothly.

One example of a solution obtained by using the device together with a head-mounted display is when an operator touches a connector or control panel's NFC tag to obtain its work order, then making a simple gesture to register the task's results. This is expected to streamline operations and cut errors.

This glove device will be exhibited at Mobile World Congress 2014, running February 24-27 in Barcelona.