Before we begin, here is a quick lesson on what the acronym “EMG” stands for – “electromyography”. All right, I do not think that any light bulbs have actually lit up in your heads just yet, but we will get there, eventually – hopefully by the time you are done with this story. As we all know, Microsoft’s foray into the home gaming console market has been successful in its second iteration compared to the first, and the software giant does not seem to have any inclination of stopping anytime soon, either. Microsoft was recently granted a patent for a wearable EMG device which will rely on your movements to control a variety of other consumer electronics devices such as a smartphone, notebook and tablet amongst others. Known as the “Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller,” it will rely on embedded sensors in order to interpret the electrical signals that are generated by a user’s muscles. These interpreted signals will then “communicate” with the wearer’s computer using a wireless (or wired) connection.
Just what kind of future will such a setup offer? Well, Microsoft hopes that the wearable device will be able to be manufactured and come in different incarnations, including an armband that is equipped with sensors, a shirt, a pair of eyeglasses, and perhaps even nodes that are attached directly to your body. How handy can an EMG armband be? Well, imagine using motion control to interact with a portable media player whenever you jog, or how about splaying your mad guitar playing skills on an air guitar for a rhythm-based video game of the future?
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