Ask HN: Why don't winter gloves have mechanical fingers?
9 comments
> In very cold weather, even good gloves often fail and you end up clenching your fist inside them to keep your fingers warm. Mittens work better for warmth, but you lose dexterity.
I use a merino liner + gloves and that works fine for cycling in -20c
I use a merino liner + gloves and that works fine for cycling in -20c
I would not wear gloves like that. For the most part, I can tolerate cold hands (I live in Colorado). The loss of dexterity for regular gloves drives me crazy.
It might work for crude actions, but my take is that touch signal is nuanced and won't get transmitted via mechanical linkage well. Love to see it prototyped though.
Could they have retractable blades? Joking aside, I think the idea is interesting
The old cheap way works quite well for the sorts of things this complicated and expensive solution would work for; liner gloves in mittens, when you need dexterity just pull of the mitten but leave on the liner, do what you need and then put the mitten back on. I like the merino wool liners, thin but dense and give great dexterity.
I have electrically heated gloves that work very well. That seems like a much simpler solution.
I just wear mittens that have individual pointer fingers. If my pointer fingers get too cold, I can just pull them in with the rest of my fingers.
If your good gloves are failing you, you need to find even better gloves. You can buy gloves rated for tens of degrees below zero for less than $100. That isn't cheap, but would certainly be less than mechanical fingers.
Disposable hand warmers? Electric hand warmers?
In very cold weather, even good gloves often fail and you end up clenching your fist inside them to keep your fingers warm. Mittens work better for warmth, but you lose dexterity.
What if a glove was designed around the fact that your hand wants to stay mostly closed in the cold?
The idea is a heavily insulated mitten where your real hand stays in a relaxed fist for warmth. Instead of your own fingers doing the work, there are mechanical fingers on the outside of the glove that you control using small movements, pressure, or muscle signals from your clenched hand.
Even in a fist, your hand is still very functional. You can vary finger pressure, tendon tension, thumb movement, and forearm muscle activation. Those small signals could be used to control external mechanical fingers through pressure sensors, cables, or EMG sensors.
The benefits:
* Fingers stay together and warm like a mitten
* No need to expose real fingers to cold
* Mechanical fingers handle interaction with the environment
* Control happens inside the warm zone
This would not need full human level dexterity. Even 2 to 3 mechanical fingers or a simple articulated claw could handle common tasks like opening doors, holding objects, using tools, or pressing buttons.
Similar tech exists in prosthetics and rehab gloves, but I have not seen it applied specifically to cold weather where warmth is the main constraint.
What do you think of this idea? Would you wear such gloves?