 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all, looking into possibilities of converting existing gloves to use with capacative screens such as smartphones. Have looked a little into finger stylus, capacative thread etc. but not really found much definitive information.
Does anybody have experience or knowledge on this topic. I know you can buy gloves with the fingertips built in but I have an expensive pair of ski gloves, and cycling gloves, that I would somehow like to adapt. Was biking today in 3 degrees (apparently -2 with windchill) and did not fancy taking my gloves off all the time!
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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swishtony, There are companies making such items. There was def. a stall at the Manchester ski show with such things.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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swishtony, Plenty of them on the market though often in the 'work' glove section. I have some nice lightweight liners with tips that are almost like a second skin they were only $8 in Home Depot (think B&Q)
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Megamum, thanks, don't seem to be able to find much on Google, to be honest not even sure what search terms to use! Have found stuff but nothing that looks very practical for a active use. Found some fingertip stylus type attachments which look fine for normal everyday use but I imagine skiing or cycling with these things would be a bit tricky, not even sure they would fit over gloves?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009RUSA7E/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A23541M8J6CQML&tag=amz07b-21
Then some articles about sewing conductive thread into a fingertip..... holes in my precious gloves..... I don't think so 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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swishtony, I tried conductive thread and it works well. Haven't used it on ski gloves though, I just pull my mitt off when I need to use my phone.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Eglove do a range
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Princess?, tempted but not sure I can bring myself to stick a needle repeatedly through my gloves and making loads of holes in them! Skiing actually not a major problem, as you say take your glove off but biking I use Strava on my iPhone and need to keep checking times/splits/stats etc.
ansta1, had a look, thanks, wonder how good the actual gloves are - heard anything about them?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Or.... just take the glove off?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Megamum, Sheesh!!! those are identical to my work gloves except for the logo . . . I paid $8 . . . I always knew TNF markup was a bit excessive but that's 
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My bike gloves work with HTC phone. Gore ones used to be a bit fussier, but they are thicker. Several 661 (mostly quite thin) gloves all work fine. Endura winter ones you just have to be very positive with finger.
Dunno about Strava (refuse to sign up to that), but Endomondo has big enough "buttons" to aim for with gloves. But I set it going at the start, and stop it at the end. If I'd have to keep stopping to get phone out to check splits, then it won't be a training session worthy of recording split/lap times.
Wouldn't want to use ski gloves though. Would be a sod opening zips and pulling phone out of pocket with ski gloves, let alone operating it. It can wait till i'm in the gondola.
edit: and strava/endomondo segment/lap accuracy is pretty poor, and seems to be quite random sometimes in guessing the actual start time and point of a timed segment. so i'd use a stopwatch which works with gloves.
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much  on Wed 20-11-13 14:08; edited 1 time in total
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You know it makes sense.
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My bluetooth earbud is helmet compatible with one touch answer, voice dial to any contact, SMS read and voice to SMS send . . . who needs gloves 
Truckers cannot touch a mobile once the wheels are rolling.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Masque, certainly sounds excessive doesn't it. I wouldn't mind betting that places like Aldi and Lidl will very soon sell gloves with the conductive bit in the finger tips for a reasonable price. They sound just the sort of thing that will end up there.
How about a set of these for the gadget minded amongst you http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/f2c9/
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Poster: A snowHead
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Masque, I got a new fancy satnav and have been experimenting with the new tech. I never had a hands free unit previously (I jsut didn't answer the phone when I was driving) but the new satnav bluetooths to my knackered old Nokia and then is entirely voice activated for calls. I've been very pleased with the adaptation and have been impressed with how well it works.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I use my iPhone in a waterproof case on my touring motorcycle where it serves as satnav as well as playing music and allowing me to take calls. With my thin summer gloves on, I can still operate the phone despite there being a thin layer of leather and a plastic screen over the phone. In winter or colder weather when I'm wearing thicker gloves, it doesn't work. I got round it by glueing a small piece of tinfoil to the tip of one of the fingers. It did seem to work most of the time.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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feef, doesn't the foil need to be in direct contact with your finger and the gadget - I thought that was the whole problem. Surely something stuck on the outside of a glove wouldn't work if it didn't make contact with your fingers? Or am I missing something (which is a def. possibility seeing as I don't use much with this tech.)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Doesn't need skin contact. Just needs to be something vaguely conductive, vaguely close enough to the screen.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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It uses a combination of the shape of the contact point and conductivity for it to work. This is why a pointy stylus on an iphone won't work, as it's looking for an 'organic' shape as caused by the pressure of a finger on the screen. I found the small disk of foil on a soft glove tip seemed to make a similar enough contact shape, and the conductivity of it was sufficient to 'fool' the iPhone into thinking it was a finger. Wasn't 100% reliable tho, but good enough for the occasional interaction I need when on the bike.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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andy, Oh, OK, then could a conductive screen protector be used in conjunction with just a raised plastic tip on a glove?
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andy, I have my phone stem mounted and check stuff while I'm actually riding when I get opportune moments. I guess from a H&S point of view maybe I'm better off actually stopping if I need to check Strava! You prefer Endomondo? I actually have the full version of that, haven't used it for ages as all my mates are using Strava. I might have another play with Endomondo. Saying that the iPhone won't respond at all it seems with any of my gloves on, even the merino inner gloves I use - just occurred to me it might be the screen protector I use actually!
Megamum, love those gloves! The foil apparently doesn't need to be in contact with the skin. That's why that conductive thread works I guess?
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no, as the conductive screen protector would be in contact with more than one point on the screen
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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feef, yes, but if the screen could be taught to ignore all over conductive contact in favour of a then localised press from a stylus or raised tip wouldn't that then get round things?
swishtony, I thought the perceived problem with the thread was that you needed to sew it completely through the finger tip so it made contact with your skin. If this isn't the case then you surely just need something like a conductive finger shaped metallic condom device to slide over an existing glove finger - dragons den anyone?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Megamum, that's exactly what I was hoping I could buy in the first place! Having Googled some of those key words it has offered me up some rather interesting pages just none with what I'm after
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Megamum, ahhhh now we're getting somewhere, still not sure I like the idea of piercing a hole into the glove though. I'm preferring your condom type idea!
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swishtony, strava kept crashing, and was almost useless at determining the exact start and end points of a "timed" section. One day I could knock 45sec off a 3km uphill by using Strava rather than my watch. Another time, it'd detect the start 3min before the start and/or detect the end several minutes after passing the end point, cos the end is a switchback and it wouldn't realise you've passed thru it until taking some photos at a view point eating a banana, and then riding by that point later. The only fix was to move the start/end points to somewhere 100m in from each end.
My watch times the time I ride past the 2 gates at each end, with more accuracy than any GPS system.
I don't use endomondo for split times either, only for recording, so no idea how the paid-for stats work, or how they compare.
If I was doing anything remotely serious, I'd be using HRM with training zones and intervals not GPS.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Megamum wrote: |
| feef, yes, but if the screen could be taught to ignore all over conductive contact in favour of a then localised press from a stylus or raised tip wouldn't that then get round things? |
I don't know about android devices, but on the iphone, the way the screen works is contained within the screen's input chipset and isn't something that can be adjusted or controlled.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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swishtony, How about a DIY job - cut the finger off of a cheap stetchy glove (woollen, nylon, rubber, latex etc), if it's liable to fray hem it or dab it on a hot surface to melt the threads and stop it fraying then add in a bit of that conductive thread slide it onto an approparite finger and Bob's your uncle. You could even add in an elastic loop to around the rest of the hand to help keep it there if it looks like sliding off, or add in a bit of elastic or a band just to slide over the finger to hold it in place.
feef, I kind of guessed that - no - I was musing on a manufacturer led adaptation for the future with that notion.
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