Smart glasses get smarter with the Myo gesture control armband

Developed by Thalmic Labs, the Myo armband is bringing Minority Report-like technology a step closer to reality. As previously reported on Bits & Pieces, the armband allows a user to interact with a computer through motion commands. Sensors in the device measure the motion and electrical activity of a person’s arm, allowing it to figure out the specific hand gesture someone is making. Most recently, the Canadian startup has announced a number of partnerships with developers and software companies to bring gesture control to smart glasses, too.

The Myo’s gesture control is now going to be compatible with a range of smart glasses, including Google Glass, Recon Jet, and Epson Moverio, with a push towards the enterprise, particularly in the construction, healthcare and active outdoor verticals. “Smart glasses like Google Glass can be extremely useful for many jobs. Doctors, repairmen, even firemen — wherever there’s a profession that sometimes requires crucial information without sitting at a desk or holding a tablet, wearable technology is up to the task,” writes Mashable‘s Pete Pachal.

“We’re big fans of wearable tech of all shapes, sizes, and uses. These new displays have created a need for new interfaces — and that need is an opportunity we’ve seized upon when developing the Myo armband. The wrist and arm are the hot spots for wearables right now, but look out — literally — smart glasses and heads up displays are going to be huge!”  Thalmic Labs’ Alex Kinsella wrote on the company blog.

Using electromyographic (EMG) sensors to recognize electrical signals pulsating through your forearm muscles, Myo can detect detailed data about your arm’s muscle activity. This enables the wearable device to identify whether the wearer’s gestures, whether they’re clenching, flicking, waving their wrist. Thalmic Labs explains that wearers will be able to get rid of remote controls, touch pads, buttons and voice control that might slow down access to information, as well as multi-step processes to either enter or retrieve data. This will be particularly useful in work environments that are noisy or require sterility. As its website states, by integrating the Myo armband, workers will have the ability to stay focused on the task at hand while reliably interacting with smart glasses through simple and natural gestures.

“We’re literally changing the way that we, as people, interact with the digital world around us,” Co-Founder Matthew Bailey tells Forbes.

Myo makes Minority Report a reality

Developed by Thalmic Labs, the Myo armband is bringing Minority Report-like technology a step closer to reality. For those who haven’t seen the flick, it’s also quite reminiscent of Iron Man Tony Stark’s gesture-controlled holo-computer. Regardless, the one-size-fits-all wearable is well on its way to revolutionizing the way we interact with our digital world.

Using electromyographic (EMG) sensors to recognize electrical signals pulsating through your forearm muscles, Myo can detect detailed data about your arm’s muscle activity. This enables the wearable device to identify whether the wearer’s gestures, whether they’re clenching, flicking, waving their wrist. “We’re building the future of human-computer interaction and we’re excited about how new computer interfaces will shape our lives,” a company rep recently told The Huffington Post.

The next-gen wearable features onboard, rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries, as well as an ARM processor, proprietary muscle activity sensors and a 9-axis inertial measurement unit. Based on an ARM Cortex-M4 processor, Myo connects via Bluetooth-enabled devices to provide gesture recognition in an endless possibility of uses, ranging from healthcare to wireless computing and gaming. As our friends at ARM point out, Myo can control music playback by swiping your hand to change a song, spreading your fingers can stop a song, while volume can be increased and decreased by the rotating a fist to the left and right. Not to mention, “the gadget enables presentations to become easier as slideshows can be controlled by flicking through slides while engagement is gained as presenters are able to zoom in and annotate to draw the audience’s attention to key points.”

Gamers, rejoice! In addition to a number of other applications, wearers will soon be able to immerse themselves within video games as movements such as running, crouching, jumping are all mimicked on the screen. The armband is supposed to work with Windows, Mac, iOS or Android devices. Myo is currently available for pre-order for $149 and is expected to begin shipping this September (after the Myo Developer Kits have been issued).

A number of developers have already had a chance to experiment with the Myo in order to find new ways to make use of it. “It’s been kind of overwhelming the number of different ideas we’ve heard and the things people have already built,” Aaron Grant, one of the co-founders, told CBC News.