There’s actually a pretty good chance you’ve already heard about this thing. It made a big wave in the tech community when it was announced about a month ago, getting coverage on just about every major tech blog on the web, and for good reason – it’s wicked cool.
If you’re keeping even a tentative watch on the progression of technology, you’re probably well aware that gesture control is the way of the future. Innovators in the consumer electronics industry are doing their absolute best to do away with barbaric computer peripherals like mice, keyboards, and trackpads, and replace them with futuristic, Minority Report style gesture controls. Up until now, the way we achieved this was with cameras and sensors built into the devices we controlled – the Xbox Kinect or Leap Motion, for example. The problem with that is that we could only control devices that are built with cameras and sensors in them, and for everything in between we’re stuck using buttons and knobs like primitive post-industrialized apes.
Enter the Myo Armband: a different breed of gesture control device. Instead of relying on cameras to detect gestures, the armband uses embedded sensors that can detect muscle activity beneath the skin. With the help of some creative software, it’s able to detect even the slightest of movements – anything from the twitch of a single finger to a fully clenched fist. It’s also equipped with a six-axis accelerometer, so it can tell when it’s being waved around. And with Myo’s open API, the possibilities for what you can do with your wild flailing motions and superman punches are only limited by your imagination.
Although you won’t be able to get one on your arm right away, Thalmic Labs (the company behind Myo) is currently accepting pre-orders for just $149, and they’ve already released the API to the public. That means that when the first orders ship later this year, developers across the globe will likely have software applications ready for you to use. Find out more on the official Myo Armband site.
