Control Everything with This ESP32-Based Gesture Glove

Have you got a Nintendo Power Glove-shaped hole in your heart? It may have been a flop with gamers back in the day, but the idea of controlling things with hand gestures is an obsession that tech enthusiasts haven’t been able to quit. We can say with Lucas from The Wizard, “I love the Power Glove. It's so bad.” Only in our case, the saying comes with a heaping helping of irony.

While the Power Glove didn’t deliver on its promises, ACEBOTT has recently released a gesture recognition glove that is decidedly more capable. It is powered by an ESP32 and is hackable, so it can be used to control everything from video games to robots, RC cars, and smart home systems. Finally, a glove that can do more than play Super Glove Ball and Bad Street Brawler!

The device in question is the ACEBOTT QD023. It looks like a chunky, slightly cyberpunk exoskeleton strapped to the back of your hand. Instead of relying on traditional flex sensors — long the bane of gesture-based projects due to their fragility and inconsistent readings — the QD023 uses a clever mechanical linkage system. Each finger is connected to a rotary potentiometer, translating physical finger bends directly into stable, repeatable analog signals.

The glove is powered by an ESP32-WROOM-32D microcontroller. With a dual-core Xtensa processor running at up to 240 MHz, built-in Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth Low Energy, the glove is more than capable of real-time gesture tracking and wireless control. Finger data from the five potentiometers is complemented by a 6-axis MPU6050 IMU, which tracks wrist rotation, tilt, and overall hand posture. This hardware gives the glove the ability to distinguish between gestures like open palms, closed fists, and directional movements.

Communication happens over BLE, allowing the glove to pair with ACEBOTT’s own robotics kits — including wheeled cars, bipedal robots, and robotic arms — or with third-party platforms using custom code. ACEBOTT also provides predefined gesture commands, making it easy for beginners to get started without diving straight into signal processing.

The QD023 supports ACECode, a Scratch 3.0–based visual programming environment, alongside Arduino IDE and Python for more advanced users. Offline voice recognition, expansion ports for servos and I2C devices, and classroom-friendly durability round out the package.

You can snag your own QD023 for about $54 from the ACEBOTT store, but you might be able to save a few dollars if you shop around.