Wayne Kurtzman shares mind-blowing information that broke last weekend about a patent filed by Microsoft that attempts to use human body muscles to activate electronic equipment.
In other words, imagine you are walking to your car carrying several bags of groceries. If you don’t have a cart and need to open your trunk, you need to lay the bags down to find your keys. What if you could flex a fist and if a certain preprogrammed muscle is activated, the trunk automatically opens? It’s called electromyography and involves using muscles to send electrical impulses to computers.
Right now, we visit websites and use mobile device applications to send status updates to our friends and colleagues. Imagine if the update is sent by, oh, the twitching of an eyebrow? Got any other ideas to use electromyographical advances to improve your personal and corporate lives?
For more information, you may be interested in learning more about the 7-person team at Microsoft Research working on this project.
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I’m guessing that the first widespread application of this technique will be video games…or military applications.
It would be amazing if this technology could be used to record words. Maybe one could write and send their tweets just by moving around your hand in a special glove that’s wirelessly connected to your phone. There hasn’t been a major innovation in a text input device since the typewriter in the 1860′s, so it seems like we’re due.
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Hi Ari,
The use you mentioned about the car trunk sounds like a good fit. Those awkward moments when you really do need an extra hand would be great. I could see it really helping the elderly (assuming that they had computers connected to whatever they needed done.)
The downfall is the same problem I have with remotes and other tools. We use them instead of our muscles. I plead guilty to sitting way too much. Although, if someone figures out how to get snow off my sidewalks remotely, I suspect I would not complain.
Hey Ari,
Great article! I think this technology could facilitate the creation and performance of music in some cool new ways. Just reposted your article on the a’tris blogs with a linkback. Hope that helps to drive some traffic your way! I really dig what you’re doing.
-Mason
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