SignGlove: Bridging the Communication Gap for Paralyzed Patients

SignGlove

What is SignGlove ???

SignGlove is an innovative wearable glove designed to bridge the communication gap for paralyzed patients, enabling them to express their wants and needs through hand signals. It enables caretakers to understand and respond to the needs of individuals with limited mobility. 

Over a Wi-Fi network, SignGlove allows users to transmit their hand signals directly to a caregiver's device. One of the key features of SignGlove is its configurability, which allows it to adapt to each user's unique abilities and hand gestures. By customizing the device to match the specific range of motions and signals that a user can comfortably make, SignGlove ensures a highly personalized and tailored communication experience. 

With SignGlove, paralyzed patients no longer rely solely on non-verbal cues or guesswork to convey their needs.

The SignGlove concept ......

The concept of SignGlove was inspired by the work of Navid Azodi and Thomas Pryor from the University of Washington. Their development of SignAloud, gloves that translate American Sign Language into text or speech sparked our interest in creating a similar wearable device with a different application focus. 

Drawing inspiration from Don Hector Salamanca in the TV series Breaking Bad, who used his bell to convey messages, we envisioned SignGlove as a means for paralyzed individuals to communicate their wants and needs.

Hector Salamanca with the Salamanca Cousins 

How SignGlove Works

The SignGlove device is seamlessly embedded onto a glove, and securely fastened to the back of the hand. This ergonomic design ensures comfort and ease of use for paralyzed patients who rely on hand signals to communicate.

Assembling ESP32, SSD1306 and MPU6500 on Zero PCB

To accurately capture the variations produced by each finger, flex sensors are attached to each finger of the glove. These flex sensors act as resistors, and when the fingers are flexed or extended, the resistance changes. This change in resistance is then captured as analog inputs by the ESP32 Development Board, the core component of SignGlove's circuitry.

Prototype of the Sign Glove on Zero PCB mounted using a Styrofoam piece

Soldering the Zero PCB

The circuit board consists of an MPU6500 IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) and a 128x64 OLED Display. The IMU helps detect and track the orientation of the user's hand, providing additional contextual information for accurate signal interpretation. 

Configurability: Tailoring SignGlove to Users

The OLED display serves as a user interface, allowing users to configure the device and visualize the readings of the flex sensors and IMU. By combining the inputs from the flex sensors and the orientation of the user's hand, SignGlove can assign unique messages to specific hand gestures. The device currently supports two positions for each finger: a fully bent position and a normal position. Along with two palm orientations, Palm Up and Palm Down, these combinations result in a total of 64 possible hand signal interpretations.

Configuring the Flex Sensor readings based on User inputs

The OLED screen displays real-time readings of the flex sensors and IMU, enabling users to calibrate and fine-tune the device according to their specific hand movements. The user can input these values into a web application that generates a unique firmware tailored to their individual hand signals. This customized firmware can then be loaded onto the SignGlove device, ensuring a highly personalized communication experience.

What's Next?

Some multiple enhancements and refinements have been considered, Some of them are,

• Transition to Pressure-Sensitive Conductive Sheets: One potential improvement involves replacing the current flex sensors with pressure-sensitive conductive sheets such as Velostat. This switch could offer improved control and accuracy in capturing finger movements, enhancing the overall performance of SignGlove.
• Compact PCB Design: A notable advancement could be the design and integration of a customized PCB that consolidates the ESP32 Development Board, MPU6500 IMU, and OLED Display into a compact package. Similar to the Arduino Lilypad concept, this approach would simplify the embedding process and ensure a more seamless and ergonomic integration with the glove.
• More Tests: Increased user tests must be done in different environments to enhance SignGlove's firmware and improve the design.

To access the source code for SignGlove, please visit my GitHub repository. There, you will find comprehensive information, detailed documentation, and step-by-step instructions on utilizing and further advancing the SignGlove.