Those crazy Google guys are at it again.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is among the inventors listed on a patent issued to the search giant this week for “Seeing With Your Hand.” The concept, in short, is a glove with sensors for viewing a room or controlling a computer with gestures.

Why would anyone want such a thing? Well, the patent actually filing cites a relatively practical example.

“[W]hen a small object is lost, for example, underneath a couch, humans naturally put their hands under the couch to locate the lost object by touch,” the filing says. “While gathering information by touch is in some cases an acceptable substitute for seeing, in many situations it may be desirable to ‘see’ the inaccessible environment to better gather information.”

Ah, so now we know the inspiration. One too many sets of keys lost beneath the furniture, Sergey?

At any rate, it might be easy to dismiss this as an inconsequential 20 percent time project, but it’s interesting to note that patent was evaluated on an accelerated schedule at Google’s request. Submitted in March of this year, the application was approved as a patent on Aug. 30.