MYO arm band: finally something exciting in technology
Let’s face it, the era of big data is here, and businesses are focused on how to make data work for them. Which can be a snooze fest at times. As the world grapples with these real world challenges, technologists are still hard at work on innovations that may appear small, but can actually have widespread implications and become mainstream, like the MYO arm band which recognizes the electrical activity of muscle movement further up in your arm, telling the band what gesture your hand is making, and thus what you are signaling to a computer or interactive device.
Designed with an API that allows third party programmers to try their hand at making the MYO arm band interact with their own technologies, users will be able to wirelessly control phones, digital cameras, video games, televisions and the like.
The bands cos $149 each with a $10 flat fee shipping rate, and devices are set to ship late in 2013. The company says there are less than 10,000 units still available.
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How the MYO arm band works
Measuring the electrical activity of muscle movement, the arm band uses Bluetooth 4.0 to communicate with compatible devices. It has on-board, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, and an ARM processor outfitted with muscle activity sensors, integrating a six-axis inertial measurement unit for fully immersed interactive experiences (think shooter games, controlling vehicles, etc.).
The company explains, “The MYO detects gestures and movements in two ways: 1) muscle activity, and 2) motion sensing. When sensing the muscle movements of the user, the MYO can detect changes down to each individual finger. When tracking the position of the arm and hand, the MYO can detect subtle movements and rotations in all directions.”
Further, “Movements can be detected very quickly – sometimes, it even looks like the gesture is recognized before your hand starts moving! This is because the muscles are activated slightly before your fingers actually start moving, and we are able to detect the gesture before that happens!”
Windows and Mac OS will be fully supported, and APIs will also be available for iOS and Android.
