Some of the biggest innovations in human interaction with technology in the past few years has been via gestures. Whether or not we’re talking about voice commands, movement gestures or just some sort of touch gesture a la the OnePlus One’s screen-off gestures, there have been plenty of different ways to interact with your phone in the past few years than just touching the screen while it’s on. Thalmic Labs is now trying to introduce a whole new set of gestures that don’t just work with your phone or tablet, but a whole range of products out there, and are controlled with your entire arm.
It’s called Myo, and it’s an armband that sits at the cusp of your forearm and elbow and reads muscle movements and electrical impulses that your muscles give off, as well as the built-in 6-axis motion detector to accurately detect any gestures that you are performing with your arms, hands or even fingers. Thalmic Labs claims that the Myo is so responsive that it can even detect the slightest of finger movements, something that could be crucial in controlling any number of the activities they’ve highlighted in the trailer you’ll find below.
Right now the Myo is up for pre-order for $149, although you won’t need to pay that cost until it actually ships next month. While it features integration into a number of products on the market right now, the big headliner is that it has full integration with Google Glass, and will let you perform even the trickiest of voice commands in a crowded space where Glass might otherwise have difficulty hearing you. The trailer features a rather fantastic ski jump being recorded by a Glass wearer, with all the controls being built into the Myo instead of having to yell over the winds and excitement of skiing. There are tons of reasons that Myo could be the next big thing, especially if the integration they are touting in a number of popular products turns out to be successful and well done. Check out the official Myo page below and watch the trailer for all the info.