From: Caius Tenche <caius@io.org>
Subject: TECH: VPL Glove Patent

I am very confused about the patent(s) held on the VPL data glove.  Can
you shed some light?

As part of the glove patent, VPL claims the ownership of
 -using a reflective medium (eg. fibre optics (but not exclusively)) and
  light emitter/detector to measure flexion.
 -using an on-screen 3D representation of a hand

My questions are:
 -aren't there other gloves out there that use fibre optics to measure
  flexion, and how are they protecting themselves again the patents, or are
  they not worried?
 -what about the on-screen 3D representation of the hand.  Every VR toolkit
  that I've seen (from REND386, to Vream, to Sense8 WTK) incorporates a 3D
  hand.  Aren't they worried?
 -Do VPL's patents on the glove hold any water?
 -Has any of this been tested legally?          

Thank you, Caius.