It turns out that Hall Effect sensors weren't the best idea. First of all, they are latched. This is easy to work around, but the fact that they are dependent on orientation isn't. One of the guys at Noisebridge suggested we just use conductive pads on all the fingers, while the pad on the thumb is charged. Nate and I had thought of this before, but for some reason had dropped the idea. By the end of the day I had contact sensors for each finger working using aluminum foil and tape.
Taking into account the easy with which this solution was put together and the simplicity of handling the data with the Arduino, we'll be changing our design to use conductive fabric and thread (probably modifying the gloves we already have, rather than getting a pattern and sewing our own gloves).
We are looking at the various types of fabric offered here: http://www.lessemf.com/fabric.html.
Noisebridge already has conductive thread, so we'll probably be using that. If we need to get our own, though, we'll purchase it from SparkFun, where we bought most of our other parts (our first order shipped incredibly fast, and the packaging was very nice. We have been keeping most of the components together in the red SparkFun box that they arrived in.).
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