Notes

Amazon will have the Muscle-sensing Myo Geo Gesture Armband Available in Quarter One

A year after we got our first taste of Myo, Thalmic Labs has announced that it will be reaching to the masses through the use of Amazon this quarter. Like its pre-order on the company's website, this muscle-sensing armband for controlling gestures will retail for $199. Thalmic Labs already sold over the 50,000 pre-orders with nearly half of them shipped to customers. This is a nice endorsement of some of the applications Thalmic Labs and its partners have shown.



Gallery: Thalmic Labs' Myo armband at CES 2015. 5 Photos



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If you're not familiar with the Myo, it consists of eight modules that you attach to the broadest part of your forearm. This will then allow the device to recognize your hand gestures. For instance, you can squeeze your fist, spreading your hand, waving your hands left or right, rotating your fist, or something as minute as a quick pinch with your thumb and a second finger (which can be set to activate or pause the Myo). A gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer are all able to measure arm movement.



There's no power button on the Myo; it wakes up as soon as you touch it and will automatically go back to sleep if you leave it alone for a period of time. If used continuously for a long period of time, a single charge will last between 10 and 14 hours. This is quite impressive.



The communication link is based on Bluetooth LE, and there's an Myo Connect app that feeds the motion input back to whichever program or device you're controlling. At Thalmic Labs' demo room we had the opportunity to utilize the Myo to control video playback and volume on a PC, an Orbotix Ollie rolling robot and Race The Sun, an thrilling flight-based obstacle avoidance game. With the exception of the connectivity issue with the Ollie and the difficulty of the game, the majority of these scenarios were quite straightforward for us.



We've seen Myo demos that featured PowerPoint, iTunes and Call Of Duty. Users will be able download apps "connectors" from the Myo Market to try out the various use cases and for controlling Spotify, Netflix, Sonos and other popular games such as Minecraft and Saints Row IV.



Thalmic Labs also had some impressive displays just prior to CES. The company's Myo integration was first introduced in November by TedCas. This allows surgeons to alter images from medical devices without touching the screen. Haute Technique shared the story of how it enabled Armin van Buuren who is a Dutch DJ using the armband as a controller for the stage lights at his shows. It will be interesting to see what the people behind the gesture cameras have to come up with, given that companies are betting big on gesture control.



Update: The product page on Amazon is now active.
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