The glove's movements were limited to a roughly hemispherical domain with 
a radius of about one cubit; as long as his elbow stayed on or near its comfy 
elastomeric rest, his hand was free. The glove was attached to a web of 
infinitesimal wires that emerged from filatories placed here and there around 
the workstation. The filatories acted like
motorized reels, taking up slack and occasionally pulling the glove one way or 
another to simulate external forces. In fact they were not motors but little 
wire factories that generated wire when it was needed and, when slack needed to 
be taken up or a wire needed a tug, sucked it back in and digested it. Each 
wire was surrounded by a loose accordion sleeve a couple of millimeters in 
diameter, which was there for safety, lest visitors stick their hands in and 
slice off fingers on the invisible wires.