Thursday, February 28, 2013

Monday, February 25, 2013

Thalmic Labs Introduces MYO, A $149 Armband For Gesture Control

Y Combinator-Backed Thalmic Labs Introduces MYO, A $149 Armband For Gesture Control

As stuff like Google Glass becomes mainstream, we’re going to see a lot more wearable computing devices around. But one thing that isn’t clear is how we’ll control them. One idea is to use gesture control, which would enable users to communicate with wearable computers without having to use a whole separate smartphone or other device to do so.

But so far, gesture control for most devices — like the Xbox Kinect, for instance — has depended upon cameras watching user movement. That means remaining in a fixed space and using pre-programmed gestures that are not exactly natural, but can be picked up by cameras. As a result, today’s gesture control technologies are far from perfect. In fact, most to date are just downright bad.

Y Combinator-backed startup Thalmic Labs believes it has a better way of determining user intent when using gesture control. To do so, it’s developed a new device, called MYO, which is an armband worn around the forearm. Using Bluetooth, the armband can wirelessly connect to other devices, such as PCs and mobile phones, to enable user control based on their movements without directly touching the electronics.

Thalmic Labs was founded by University of Waterloo Mechatronics Engineering graduates Aaron Grant, Matthew Bailey, and Stephen Lake. After leaving school, the three began collaborating on building the technology behind the Myo armband. Altogether, the company that they’ve built now has 11 employees.

“Before we graduated, we were interested in the area of wearable computing,” Lake told me. According to him, the team realized that a ton of research had been done on heads-up display technology, like the kind used in Google Glass. But there was a lot less energy placed on the technology used to control wearable computing devices. And so, the founder set out to build it.

The first product they’ve developed is MYO, which uses a bunch of sensors and machine learning technology use the muscles in your forearm to determine what gestures users are making with their hands. Once it’s done that, users will be able to manipulate what’s happening on screen for different devices.

Sample applications of the technology involve being able to manipulate and edit slide presentations remotely. Users could also control wireless devices with the MYO armband — like for instance, theSphero gaming ball. In the future, The Thalmic team hopes to enable control of stuff like Google Glass without actually touching the display.

For users, the armband will be available for pre-order for $149 at www.getmyo.com. But it’s not just end users that the team is trying to get on board — it’s also hoping to court developers as well.

To do so, Thalmic Labs is introducing an API that will allow third-party developers to build applications that can take advantage of its gesture control technology. The idea is to create a platform that will enable others to build their own applications based on MYO gesture control.

“We’re really interested in what third-party developers can do. Everyone we’ve talked to has a different idea for it,” Lake told me. The company is hoping to harness some of that creative energy to build things that it would have never thought of.

While it’s unclear how popular the MYO armband will actually be, Thalmic Labs hopes that other developers will help to create applications that make it more valuable. The company also appears to have some interesting IP that could be pretty valuable. It has already filed for a couple of patents, and has more filings on the way.

Thalmic Labs is currently part of the Y Combinator Winter 2013 class of startups, and has raised $1.1 million in seed funding. In addition to Y Combinator, that funding has come from investors such as ATI Technologies founder Lee Lau, HP Canada CEO Paul Tsaparis, Rypple co-founder Daniel Debow, and Dayforce CEO David Ossip.

Tags: thalmic labs

http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/25/thalmic-labs-myo/

« PREVIOUS STORY
Sony’s New a58 DSLT Camera Features People And Object Autofocus Tracking, Selective Digital Noise Reduction

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Armour 39 Wearable Gear

Under Armour has always touted the scientific underpinnings of its sports apparel. From moisture wicking to heat trapping and everything in between, the company is quick to assert that it isn't just another athletic clothing company. But, performance enhancing shirts and pants have their limitations and, arguably, performance monitoring is a far more interesting and burgeoning field. In 2011 it dabbled with E39, a compression shirt with a space to insert a "bug" that included and accelerometer and heart rate monitor. Today, at an event in beautiful, chilly New York City, it officially unveiled the next evolution of that toe-dipping, Armour39. While there may be a shirt in the future, for now the system consists of a traditional chest strap, an iPhone app and an optional watch for those that don't like to carry their expensive smartphone with them on runs.

Armour39 hands-on

See all photos

The only essential piece of equipment is the module itself and the strap. The new bug is quite a bit smaller than the original, which means you won't be able to pop it into an E39 shirt if you happen to have one. Inside the tiny, light monitor is a dedicated CPU, an accelerometer, storage and a Bluetooth 4.0 radio. Along one edge are a pair of metal probes that connect to receptacles in the strap that feed it data from the heart rate sensors. It clips in with a satisfying click and requires a decent amount of force to remove. Not so much that it's annoying, but enough that you feel confident it won't fall out while you're sprinting around the track. The strap itself feels stunningly soft and comfortable. Having worn a few differentfitness monitoring solutions in my day, this seemingly small detail lent the whole package a seriously premium feel. Plus, who wants to deal with chaffing or lost chest hair while trying work their guns? The bug operates on a standard watch-style battery, which the company claims should last for up to a year.

The Armour39 app, which is iOS only for the moment, gives you a quick way to monitor information like heart rate, calories burned and intensity. The latter, which sounds pretty abstract, is determined by things like your maximum heart rate and other metrics that you can enter into the app, making it a performance measurement specific to you. Lastly, there's WILLpower, an holistic score of how hard you're pushing yourself on a scale of 1-10. The app uses a proprietary algorithm that takes into account not only your heart rate and position, but also past performances to determine your level of effort.

The last piece of the puzzle is the watch, which we were a little disappointed to find out didn't include GPS for proper run tracking. Instead it just gives athletes a way to keep tabs on all the data generated by the bug without having to take their delicate iPhone with them to the gym. While runners would probably enjoy the addition of location monitoring, its absence does mean you can expect up to a year of use on a standard watch battery. The Armour39 system will hit shelves on March 20th, with the module and strap bundle costing $150 and the watch $199.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

New Gadgets

Gadget Reviews

Kluoo Bluetooth Smart Phone Ring

Interesting new smartphone bluetooth ring coming concept. Here's a company that is creating a prototype bluetooth ring for smartphones. It's called the Kluoo. It will come with an app you can customize the lights. very interesting concept.

Check out their website at www.kluoo.com

Saturday, February 2, 2013

High-tech glasses wow with new advances

Posted December 10, 2012 - 12:21 pm

High-tech glasses are becoming more advanced and could one day give you options to get directions, place video calls or check into social networks.

Quick Read

Wearable technology: 10 gadgets available now

Posted September 25, 2012 - 7:00 am

you don't have to wait until next year (and probably much later, unless you happen to be a developer) to get your hands on wearable tech. Here are ten pieces of wearable technology that are available right now.

Quick Read

The wild world of wearable computers

Posted August 21, 2012 - 11:15 am

Imagine wearing shoes that reveal your precise weight distribution when standing, walking, or running (Moticon); a tattoo that vibrates when you have incoming calls and messages (Nokia); or an armband that tracks how many calories you've burned in a day (Nike+ FuelBand).

Quick Read

Wearable technology market to exceed $6B by 2016

Posted August 18, 2012 - 6:25 am

Wearable technology today mainly covers healthcare products and wellness applications. But, the market is expected to explode from 14 million devices sold this year to as many as 171 million in 2016, mostly from the entertainment and fitness industries.

Quick Read

Shoe-mounted smartphone controller brings new perspective to wearable technology

Posted July 18, 2012 - 1:23 pm

What's this? An alternative to fumbling for my smartphone in a mad panic? The ability to discreetly S.O.S for rescue in the event of a bad blind date? A way to sneakily record conversations? I'm down with that. While I have a feeling that clumsy people like me would probably break the hardware before the end of the first day, ShoeSense is still exciting to contemplate.

Quick Read

'Wearable' tech in spotlight at Google I/O

Posted July 16, 2012 - 4:09 pm

At its Google I/O developers conference in San Francisco, Google touted the new prototype of its Google Glass computerized eyeglasses.

Neptune Pine smartwatch excites, but only in theory

Posted: Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:27:59 GMT

A conceptual image of the Neptune Pine smartwatch.

(Credit: Neptune Computer)

Run a Google search for smartwatch, and you'll find quite a few choices out there. But many of these watches fall flat of actually delivering what a real geek wants: a timepiece with sexy specifications, a cool (and actually usable) interface, and total independence from a smartphone.

Neptune Computer -- a startup based in Montreal -- is looking to deliver a smartwatch called Pine that could fulfill those geeky needs. Before you get too excited, though, note that some hurdles stand in the way.

Neptune wants to bring a wide-screen experience to smartwatches.

(Credit: Neptune Computer)

The proposed specifications for the 1GHz Neptune Pine currently include an ARM Cortex-A9, the Leaf OS (a modified version of Android), and a micro-SIM slot that basically turns the device into a miniature 3G smartphone that can make calls, and handle SMS and other functions.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Google Glass: Wearable Tech’s Killer App?

By Stett Holbrook , 2012/11/15 @ 11:28 am

Maybe you’ve heard about Google Glass, interactive, voice-controlled “augmented reality smart glasses.” We covered it here and here. It sounds far out, but in a blog post written forGigaOM, Mindshare’s Paul Armstrong says that, at least for media companies, Google Glass is going to “change everything.” That’s surely an overstatement, but it’s easy to imagine where this wearable technology might take us.

Plainly speaking, this is the first piece of tech I have seen in a long time that has the potential to truly change everything. Forget tablets, forget smartphones, the technology behind Glass is not an extension of you, it literally becomes part of you.

He goes on:

This is the ultimate device that can not only benefit from contextual information but also demonstrated behavior, such as time of reading, likes, dislikes and so on. The system will quickly pick up on those variables (among many others) and soon enough take care of it automatically: no need anymore for RSS feeds, no circling, no preferences. Just read as you normally would, and it will get smarter and more precise and better at predicting your needs and wants. This fixes my main issues with the way we get news today, which still requires too much input from the user; instead Glass just gets out of the way.

Will this be wearable technology’s long sought-after killer app?

Fiber Optic Illuminated Heels

Fierce is a perfect adjective to describe Anastasia Radevich's Kinect 2011 collection. Did you see those heels? And of course the lights. Using fiber optics, Radevich layers an ephemeral quality to her cutting edge designs.

Nike Opens Up Its Platform to Startups with New Accelerator Program

Traditionally Nike — like Apple — has been a closed, super secretive company. Yesterday when I read about its launch of a new Accelerator program, I smirked. Is this a sign that large…