Atlas Gloves is a DIY physical interface for controlling 3D mapping applications like Google Earth and NASA's World Wind. The user interface is a pair of illuminating gloves that can be used to track intuitive hand gestures like grabbing, pulling, reaching and rotating. The Open Source Atlas Gloves application can be downloaded from atlasgloves.org and operated from home using a webcam and two self-made illuminating gloves (or flashlights).

Since Douglas Engelbart unveiled the mouse in his famous 1968 demonstration (known by many as "The Mother of all Demos"), this user input device has proved a flexible workhorse in the area of Human-Computer Interaction. However, a new breed of 3D mapping applications demands a greater degree of control and articulation than is available through the mouse. As we explored the possibilities of Google Earth projected at a suitably worldly scale, we yearned for a more appropriate input mechanism.

Keyhole was a satellite imaging firm that developed an innovative technology allowing users to seamlessly zoom, pan, rotate and tilt a convincingly rendered representation of the earth. Since being acquired by Google in 2004 and renamed "Google Earth," a basic version of Keyhole's flagship viewer was made free for download and a burgeoning user community has created a rich selection of custom mapping overlays. NASA's Earth Wind offers similar functionality and additionally offers users the ability to explore the moon. Cartography heavyweight ESRI is developing its own answer to Google Earth, currently available through a closed beta program.

Our audience is composed of those who find joy in exploration and a curiosity about the world around them. By offering the Atlas Gloves application free for download and instructions on how to build one's own illumination gloves from scratch, we hope to also encourage a do-it-yourself audience to hack their own mapping experience.

The user stands in front of a large scale projection of the earth with a special set of illuminating gloves on their hands. By gently squeezing each glove, an LED turns on, which is translated by the computer into navigational commands. The user is then free to fly above the world, zooming in and out, tilting, rotating at their leisure.

A small camera attached to a computer translates each LED-enabled gesture into a set of possible actions: pan, zoom, rotate and tilt. The video tracking functionality is written within the Processing programming framework, in conjunction with Java's java.awt.Robot library. This robot library converts a special video tracking vocabulary into mouse clicks/releases and cursor movement in order to control the computer. Separating out the tracking and control interface in this way provides a flexibility such that Atlas Glvoes can be used with a variety of applications.

The process of developing Atlas Gloves was an interesting mix of trial-and-error, user testing and stumbling onto solutions in rare "Eureka!" moments. It was very satisfying creating physical tools for new forms of interaction. We also learned that crappy old-school cameras are far better suited to this kind of application than the fancy new stuff they make now.