MYO Armband to Bring Gesture and Muscle-Recognition Control to Macs

This is a very cool idea, but like others I do wonder how it handles accidental input.

Say for example you are reaching to turn on the stove - does it interpret that as volume up as well? Or pushing a button on a thermostat, or any of the tiny little actions we do with our hands during the day that we don't think about...will it be able to tell the difference?

I hope this will not render my PhD Thesis useless!

This thing is way cool, can't wait to try it out.

As a kid I wanted the power glove for my nintendo so bad I saved forever to get it. What a let down. The thing was so hard to control and my arm, wrist, and hand got so tired so quickly it wasn't practical at all. I tried and tried to get used to it but never could. Technology has come a long way since then but I wonder if the core problems are still the same.

For those of you who don't know what the power glove is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Glove

This tech would be great in prosthesis.

guzhogi said:

Anyone know if there's something this to track your exercise habits? Something like this meets Nike+ Fuelband? Some exercises don't focus on the movements but pulling/pushing/holding weights. Could give a more accurate picture how you workout. Could track things like push-ups, weight-lifting, gymnastics or something. Just a thought

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I think they said the API is open so it's possible to integrate into apps.

I too am thinking of the chaos from accidental parings and the hacking of remote devices.

"feel the muscle luke"

This looks incredible! Hopefully by the time it launches there will be a variety of ways to implement this in our daily lives. It also looks like something that could sync with Google Glass.

achtung! said:

minority report, here we go!

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Hell yes! Want! And it's about damn time too.

powers74 said:

This tech would be great in prosthesis.

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I was thinking the same thing. And the military might find it useful (as in the video), though Bluetooth's short range might be a hindrance. The snowboard example is cool if extraneous gestures can be ignored. But as a "normal" computer user, this seems like too much work.

I just think it's interesting that everybody hated the idea of a iWatch, and then this comes along it's totally amazing. This just underlines the point that people struggle to redefine preconceived conceptions about how something works. I'm not saying Apple will combine this with the iWatch so mooted, but the point is that they could be doing anything and that anything could be amazing. So, what am I saying? Hmmm, that rumour and speculation are pointless Listen up guys.

Krazy Bill said:

Yes, it's impressive but this technology hasn't taken the world by storm - at least mainstream for a good reason. People are generally lazy and other than the occasional finger swipe on a small screen this is just too much work.

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You mean like spray cheese?

No doubt will be fully utilized by the "adult" tech sector. Hmm, maybe the future in WALL-E isn't so far fetched?

jayducharme said:

I was thinking the same thing. And the military might find it useful (as in the video), though Bluetooth's short range might be a hindrance. The snowboard example is cool if extraneous gestures can be ignored. But as a "normal" computer user, this seems like too much work.

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This is what I've been hoping Apple has been working on when people talk about the watch. They could be so much more useful if they had this kind of input.

Brilliant idea. But, I'm questioning it's reliability though. I'm not so sure it's gonna work the same with everyone's hand.

wow. almost makes me want to buy one.

how about battery life.

For everyone who thinks this is cool and Minority Reports is the future of computer interaction, just wave your hands in the air for a half hour and then tell me how cool this is. You'll be back to the mouse in no time.

i think this tech falls more under a google glass category - cool tech with no consumer market yet.

the only examples these gadgets work in are very application specific and not general users. no one can or wants to learn a set of special gestures to do what they already can do. that is why no one knows the special set of gestures for ipad and touchpad except for scroll, swipe and pinch which are almost instinctual.

Did anyone preorder their's? I submitted my order but did not receive a confirmation page that my order went through or an email confirming my order.

NAG said:

This is what I've been hoping Apple has been working on when people talk about the watch. They could be so much more useful if they had this kind of input.

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more useful than voice, touch screen or direct buttons on the watch???

imagine how silly it would look for someone to control a little watch screen on their wrist by moving, turning and contorting that same wrist and hand.

that's like only enable controlling the ipad via it's accelerometer and gyro instead of touch screen.

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Cinnabar said:

I just think it's interesting that everybody hated the idea of a iWatch, and then this comes along it's totally amazing. This just underlines the point that people struggle to redefine preconceived conceptions about how something works. I'm not saying Apple will combine this with the iWatch so mooted, but the point is that they could be doing anything and that anything could be amazing. So, what am I saying? Hmmm, that rumour and speculation are pointless Listen up guys.

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plenty of people are in love with an iwatch just like plenty of people hate the idea. it really goes to show that without working prototypes, people have no way of even imagining just how well a concept will work with the general consumer. everyone except these few developers have no clue about these input devices...and most of the developers are even fooling themselves by their own marketing too.

whooleytoo said:

Very clever technology, but are people going to put on an armband just to use gestures with their Mac? Particularly given the other remote-control options.

I think I'd PREFER a Kinect-like camera that's waiting for input, rather than having to take the arm-band control on & off, or wearing it all the time.

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I'm excited for this, because it seems simpler (more simple?) to wear the input, than to install innumerable inputs (cameras) in my home. My only mac is commissioned almost entirely as a media hub, which this device (presumedly) excels at controlling, regardless of orientation to the device. I don't have to dry my hands to skip tracks? or even leave the room? NICE.

HobeSoundDarryl said:

I'm having visions of Malls with stores redone in (do not)touch screens and shopper's arms flailing about to browse the eInventory.

Between Google Glass and tech like this, will typical human movement & interaction (today) still be around in 50 years?

I got to tell you: I still find it a bit odd to see people walking around with nearly invisible bluetooth headsets appearing to be talking to no one (or maybe they are just talking to themselves and faking it with the headset)? Now, I envision people talking to themselves and thoroughly animating their limbs to control screens they don't need to touch anymore. I guess all that motion will help us burn calories.

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It's an Exciting time to be alive.

Wheres the middle finger? :>

Hello future!

AlphaHumanus said:

It's an Exciting time to be alive.

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Resistance is futile.