The promise of virtual reality is true immersion—the idea that we'll be able to step into a whole new digital world and feel like it's actually real. This simply can't be realized if we're holding a game controller in our hands. Last year, a Canadian startup called Thalmic Labs showed off the Myo motion-sensing, muscle-reading armband, which gets us one step closer to the VR of our dreams—by freeing up our hands. Now the company has a final hardware design for the $149 Myo, and says that it will begin shipping in September.

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