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Meta's Muscle-Reading Wristband Lets You Control Devices with Thoughts
23 Jul
Summary
- Meta's experimental wristband can read electrical signals from muscles to control computers and smartphones without touching them.
- The wristband can detect your intentions before you physically move, allowing you to control a cursor or open apps just by thinking.
- Researchers used AI to analyze data from thousands of people to make the technology more robust and accurate.
Researchers at Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, have developed an experimental wristband that can read electrical signals from your muscles to control computers and smartphones without touching them. The prototype looks like a giant rectangular wristwatch and uses a technique called electromyography (EMG) to gather these signals.
The wristband can detect your intentions before you physically move, allowing you to control a cursor or open apps just by thinking about the action. Meta's team used artificial intelligence techniques to analyze data from thousands of people, identifying common patterns in the electrical signals to make the technology more robust and accurate.
While similar technologies that use EMG as a computer interface are only beginning to mature, Meta's breakthrough is its use of AI to analyze large amounts of data. This has allowed the wristband to work with new users it has never seen before. Meta plans to integrate this technology into its products over the next few years, including potentially using it to control an experimental version of its smart glasses.
