Peregrine wires you into a keyboard, we go hands-in
Got a game with a lot of commands, but are sick of supporting the Big Keyboard industry? Meet your rebel input replacement, the Peregrine. Demonstrated to us at E3, the Peregrine is basically an elastic glove with some wires sewn into it at various points. Connecting one of those points to conductive patches on the palm and thumb creates an electrical circuit, which the glove's brain converts to a keypress. It's like a glove but with power -- a sort of power glove, if you will. The main application is MMOs, where you could touch your thumb and forefinger together to cast a spell in a role-playing game or touch your middle finger to your palm to heal yourself. Or your character, anyway. More impressions and some spec-ops intrigue after the break.
There are 40 total combinations of contact points on the glove that you can use and configure to do whatever you like. It's not particularly suitable for fast-paced games like first-person shooters, but for World of Warcraft and Everquest addicts it could be perfect. Gamers could use the mouse with their right hand and wear the glove on the left, touching and tapping their way through the next level grind. It's even washable, so reach for those Cheetos with abandon.
The glove is slated to cost $129, ship sometime this Fall, and since it's basically just a USB keyboard it'll work with almost everything. Yes, that price is awfully high, but it's actually a surprisingly durable feeling product, developed up to military specifications. Why to military specs? That, sadly, they wouldn't tell us, but surely some special ops soldier in a dark corridor somewhere is strangling a bad guy whilst wearing one of these, and that's totally awesome.
