Systems, articles, and methods for human-electronics interfaces

Abstract

Human-electronics interfaces in which a wearable electromyography (“EMG”) device is operated to control virtually any electronic device are described. In response to detected muscle activity and / or motions of a user, the wearable EMG device transmits generic gesture identification flags that are not specific to the particular electronic device(s) being controlled. An electronic device being controlled is programmed with user-definable instructions for how to interpret and respond to the gesture identification flags.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]1. Technical Field[0002]The present systems, articles, and methods generally relate to human-electronics interfaces and particularly relate to electromyographic control of electronic devices.[0003]2. Description of the Related ArtWearable Electronic Devices[0004]Electronic devices are commonplace throughout most of the world today. Advancements in integrated circuit technology have enabled the development of electronic devices that are sufficiently small and lightweight to be carried by the user. Such “portable” electronic devices may include on-board power supplies (such as batteries or other power storage systems) and may be designed to operate without any wire-connections to other electronic systems; however, a small and lightweight electronic device may still be considered portable even if it includes a wire-connection to another electronic system. For example, a microphone may be considered a portable electronic device whether it is operated wirelessly or throug...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes a wearable device that can identify different hand movements using a processor and a set of sensors. The device can also store information about these movements in a memory, so that they can be used later on. The technical effect of this invention is that it provides a way to control and interact with devices using hand movements, without the need for a separate controller or remote. This can be useful in situations where, for example, people need to control their devices while wearing a medical device or wearing a protective suit in a dangerous environment.

Problems solved by technology

However, the convenience of being able to carry a portable electronic device has also introduced the inconvenience of having one's hand(s) encumbered by the device itself.

Each command that is output by the wearable EMG device has already been formulated to control (and is therefore limited to exclusively controlling) a specific function of a specific receiving device prior to being transmitted by the wearable EMG device.

Thus, existing proposals for human-electronics interfaces that employ EMG are limited in their versatility because they employ a wearable EMG device that is hard-coded to control a specific electronic device (and / or a specific application within a specific electronic device).

Because the outputs (i.e., commands) provided by such wearable EMG devices are hard-coded with information about the function(s) of the receiving device(s), a user cannot use such a wearable EMG device to control any generic electronic device (or any generic application within an electronic device) without reprogramming / reconfiguring the wearable EMG device itself.

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