The Power Glove gained public attention due to its early virtual reality mechanics and significant marketing.

Additional development was accomplished through the efforts of Thomas G. Zimmerman and Jaron Lanier, a virtual reality pioneer responsible for codeveloping and commercializing the DataGlove,[4] who had made a failed attempt at a similar design for Nintendo earlier.

Mattel brought in Image Design and Marketing's Hal Berger and Gary Yamron to develop the raw technology into a functional product.

[8] Zimmerman built the first prototype that demonstrated finger flex measurement and hand position tracking using a pair of ultrasonic transmitters.

[9] The Power Glove is based on the patented technology of the VPL Dataglove, but with many modifications that allow it to be used with modestly performing consumer hardware and sold at an affordable price.

[12] The Power Glove was adopted by the emerging virtual reality community in the 1990s to interact with 3D worlds in a cheaper way to the popular high end DataGlove produced by VPL Research.

[15] However, it generally received extremely poor reception, because the controls for the glove were incredibly obtuse, making it completely impractical for almost every game on the console.