Gesture-based Myo Armband Now Up For Pre-Order

About a week ago we reported on a concept called the AirType which basically wants to do away with the need for an actual keyboard. Well if the keyboard’s going to go, why not the mouse too, right? Well if you’re looking for a way to interact with your computer without having to use a mouse, you might be interested to learn that Thalmic Labs is currently accepting pre-orders for the Myo armband.

The Myo armband was revealed earlier last year and basically what it does is that the user wears it around their arm, and from there they will be able to interact with their computer using motion commands. Through the detection of motion and electrical activity in a person’s arm, the Myo armband will be able to figure out a specific hand gesture that the wearer is making.

Its creators boast that the armband will be able to detect all sorts of gestures, even individual finger movement, making the armband a pretty precise piece of instrument. Based on earlier demos, we’ve seen how it can be used to control music playback, scroll through websites, or even play first-person shooter games by using your fingers and hand to mimic a gun.

The device will work just fine with Windows and Mac computers, and will also play nicely with mobile devices running on iOS or Android. The Myo armband is priced at $149 and is expected to begin shipping this September. There are currently other version of the armband available, like the Alpha and Developer Kit, but unless you’re a software developer, you’ll have to wait until September for the consumer version.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: Wearable Tech