While the MJ v1.0 jacket allowed wearers to create music through gestures recognized by embedded sensors, our latest spotting aims to go a step further. Canada’s MYO is a piece of wearable tech that detects muscle configuration to enable users to remotely control any device with arm movements.

The armband is a one-size-fits-all device that works out of the box, connecting to popular consumer devices through a Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy connection. When worn, the band can detect the movement of individual muscles in the arm, combining this with motion sensing to determine the gesture being performed by the user. MYO can detect subtle variations in arm position and movement, down to individual fingers, meaning a wide range of gestures are available. Consumers are encouraged to use the suggested gestures for particular actions – such as clicking fingers to play music, holding up the palm to pause or twisting the hand to turn up volume, for example. However, the company does have an open API that lets developers rig the device for their own needs – guiding a robot, custom video game controls or instrument-less music making. The video below gives an idea of some of the ways MYO could be used:

Thalmic, the company behind the device, recently raised USD 14.5 million in Series A funding and has gathered more than 30,000 pre-orders, with consumers paying USD 149 for the product. Could this provide a step towards completely remote control of our devices?

Spotted by: Murray Orange