Communications of the ACM
Gesture Control: Touching the Future of Computing
Electromyography measures electrical activity in the muscles using electrodes, which are seen here attached to the wrist.
Nich Heath/silicon.com
University of Essex bionics researcher James Cannan is building a bracelet that records every finger stroke, capturing the motion and position of each digit and using the information to determine which key has been struck. Cannan envisions people typing by jabbing their fingers at virtual keys projected before them or on glasses they are wearing.
Cannan's device employs electromyography (EMG), a process that involves monitoring the electrical pulses produced by muscular contraction. These pulses are picked up by electrodes on the skin, amplified, and communicated wirelessly to a computer that uses machine-learning software to pick out patterns corresponding to specific movements.
Cannan has mapped finger movements with about 70 percent accuracy using EMG, and is considering integrating EMG with acoustic myography to maximize the device's chances of accurately detecting gestures. The acoustic myography process involves using sensors affixed to the skin to listen for the sounds of muscle contractions and identify specific gestures through pattern recognition.
Cannan says acoustic myography also could be used to track thumb movements, since the hand contains most of a thumb's muscles.
From silicon.com
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2011 Information Inc. 
, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found