(Web Desk) - Scientists from Reality Labs at Meta have invented a device that allows users to interact with computers using only hand gestures.
The device sits like a bracelet on the wrist where it senses electrical signals generated by muscle movements. It then translates these into commands which are transmitted to the computer via Bluetooth.
Keyboards, touchpads and computer mice have been the default means of interacting with computers for decades, but not everyone has the physical ability to use them. People with smartphones, smartwatches and smartglasses may also need new ways to control their devices without having to shift their attention to a touch screen.
The new “neuromotor interface” could address these problems.
“We chose the wrist because humans primarily engage the world with their hands, and the wrist provides broad coverage of sEMG signals of hand, wrist and forearm muscles,” the researchers write in a paper presenting the technology in the journal Nature.
The device relies on “surface electromyography” (sEMG) which detects muscle activity via metal electrodes on the skin.
The bracelet is non-invasive and easy to put on and remove unlike previous forays into brain-computer interfaces which interact directly with brain tissue or require lengthy setups.