BroGamer

Microsoft Patents Wearable Controllers

The folks over at IGN have dug up a Microsoft patent for wearable controllers that use muscle output to interact with games.

Filed back in June, the controllers are referred to as ‘Wearable Electromyography-Based’, whatever that means. Anyway, here is how they are described by the patent:

A ‘Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller’ includes a plurality of Electromyography (EMG) sensors and provides a wired or wireless human-computer interface (HCl) for interacting with computing systems and attached devices via electrical signals generated by specific movement of the user’s muscles.

Following initial automated self-calibration and positional localization processes, measurement and interpretation of muscle generated electrical signals is accomplished by sampling signals from the EMG sensors of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller.

In operation, the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller is donned by the user and placed into a coarsely approximate position on the surface of the user’s skin. Automated cues or instructions are then provided to the user for fine-tuning placement of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller.

Examples of Wearable Electromyography-Based Controllers include articles of manufacture, such as an armband, wristwatch, or article of clothing having a plurality of integrated EMG-based sensor nodes and associated electronics.