The armband that makes hands-free motion control real

folarin okunola

May 25, 2015 9:20 AM

Gesture control most often accomplished via vision sensors that watch you or your hands and track your movement (think Microsoft Kinect for Xbox).

The Myo control armband in use.

From recent evidence and breakthroughs, gesture-controlled computing is well on its way to transitioning from fantasy to reality.

Gesture control most often accomplished via vision sensors that watch you or your hands and track your movement (think Microsoft Kinect for Xbox).

However, is a gesture controlled armband that reads forearm muscle movement to interpret a wide range of intentions.

Myo, with its matte-black rubber covering, zigzag bands and block-like contact and sensor modules, and designed by Thalmic Labs, looks less like an interface-control device than one of Batman’s nifty “toys.” (You can get it in white, too, but why would you?)

According to Thalmic Labs, with it wrapped firmly around your forearm, you can use it to control a presentation, play music in iTunes, control Netflix and even steer a Bluetooth-based toy.

At least that's the promise. In practice, Mashable reports, Myo fulfills the first task with ease, but — not always through fault of its own — proved more challenging on others.

Myo doesn't come with a lot of instruction, mostly because it really doesn't need it. You start by downloading the device software and then connecting the device via a USB cable to your computer.

A small USB Bluetooth dongle that you'll have to leave plugged into your computer is also available out-of-the-box. Although Myo is a Bluetooth 4.0 device, it can't talk directly to your computer's built in Bluetooth radio.

Once Myo is fully charged and setup, you won't have to plug in again until you need another charge and one charge lasts a couple of days. Even though there’s no physical on-off switch on the device, you can easily turn it off through the utility app.

Myo works by sensing changes in the muscles in your forearm and then translating those changes into commands. This means you have to learn some specific moves to use it to control applications and devices for you to be able to maximise the full potential of this amazing device.

$199 seems like a lot to pay for gesture-based control of your next presentation, but various indications already show that Myo would be able to so much more than it already can, which makes it a very good and cool device to own.

folarin okunola