Meta's mind-reading wristband lets you control computers with just a thought
The prototype looks like an oversized smartwatch, wearing which users can navigate their laptop screen with a gentle wrist turn, launch desktop applications by tapping thumb to forefinger, or write messages by tracing letters in the air as if holding an invisible pencil. According to the New York Times, the technology reads electrical signals that pulse through forearm muscles when fingers move.
Unlike Elon Musk's Neuralink, which requires surgical brain implants, Meta's approach is refreshingly simple. Anyone can strap on the rectangular wristwatch-sized device and start using it immediately. Meta's implementation of mind-control technology uses
surface electromyography
to detect
muscle signals
from outside the skin, no surgery needed.
How Meta's gesture control technology actually works
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by Taboola
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The wristband uses surface electromyography (sEMG) to capture electrical signals generated by neurons in the spinal cord before they reach muscle fibers. These signals are strong enough to read through skin and move faster than actual muscle movement, allowing the device to predict actions milliseconds before they happen.
The breakthrough lies in Meta's ability to isolate individual muscle fiber activity at what Reardon calls "the atomic level of the nervous system." When you think about moving your finger, your brain sends electrical commands through alpha motor neurons that connect directly to specific muscle fibers. Because these neural signals are so strong when they reach the muscles, the wristband's sensors can detect them through the skin without needing brain surgery. The device can read these signals even when only a tiny number of fibers activate, allowing users to control computers through pure intention rather than physical movement.
"You don't have to actually move," Thomas Reardon, Meta's vice president of research leading the project, told the Times. "You just have to intend the move." The team trained artificial intelligence on data from 10,000 volunteers to identify common electrical patterns, making the device work immediately for new users without calibration.
AI breakthrough solves decades-old problems
Meta says it used artificial intelligence to analyse muscle signal patterns. After collecting data from 10,000 volunteers, researchers used neural networks to identify common electrical patterns that work across different users. "Out of the box, it can work with a new user it has never seen data for," explained
Patrick Kaifosh
, director of research science at Meta's Reality Labs. This AI breakthrough solved the decades-old calibration problem that killed earlier devices like the discontinued Myo armband.
The company has already demonstrated the wristband's commercial potential by pairing it with experimental smart glasses last fall. The combination allows users to take photos, record videos, play music, and access verbal descriptions of their surroundings, all through simple hand gestures. This integration points to Meta's future strategy, with plans to integrate the wristband into products over the next few years, potentially starting with their smart glasses.
The technology also opens up transformative possibilities for people with disabilities. Carnegie Mellon researchers are testing the wristband with spinal cord injury patients who retain some muscle activity but can't fully use their hands. Even with complete hand paralysis, the device can interpret intended actions from minimal muscle fiber activation, providing new pathways for digital interaction.
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