Wearable tech’s dynamic duo is here!
Thalmic Labs has officially announced the ability to integrate its gesture control armband, Myo, with smartglasses like Google Glass, Epson Moverio BT-200 and Recon Instrument’s upcoming Jet. The combination of gesture control with smartglasses is righting some of the woes of devices like Google Glass that rely on voice and touch for interaction, which be challenging and awkward to use in many situations. It also starts to put the pieces together to demonstrate a world in which wearables are used as effective, efficient and more natural tools in the enterprise space.
“Smartglasses remove barriers to accessing the information and communications needed to effectively and efficiently perform the job at hand. Now, the Myo armband frees up your hands to unlock the full value of smartglasses,” said Stephen Lake, CEO and co-founder of Thalmic Labs. “The Myo armband uses subtle hand gestures to instantly interact with applications on smartglasses, without needing to remove gloves or pull out a secondary controller.”
To illustrate how Myo can be used to take smartglasses to the next level, Thalmic Labs has partnered with thought leaders in several industries working on enterprise solutions, including medical Google Glass startup, Augmedix and construction software solution, Closeout, by Bridgit and APX Labs.
APX Labs is building software that improves field work at wind mills, oil refineries and hydro plants. APX smartglass software Skylight allows field workers to troubleshoot issues and receive feedback right in front of their eyes. They have used Myo to move through the data in a much more natural manner.
“We have a lot of challenges when creating solutions for smartglasses particularly around how the human interacts with them. You could be trying to use voice in a noisy environment. You could be using touch in an environment where you have a gloved hand. We have to give our users the ability to still have rich interactions even when those are nonviable solutions,” said Brian Ballard, Co-Founder and CEO of APX Labs in a video by Thalmic Labs. “Our company is using Myo to solve problems in human computer interaction for our deskless workers”.
To showcase the Myos use in enterprise, Thalmic Labs has rolled out a video series on its YouTube channel called “Thalmic Labs for Business”. In it, the Myo is shown how much more natural and efficient the use of smartglasses for doctors, construction workers, field workers and bike couriers can be when paired with gesture control.
The Myo’s potential in personal computing, gaming and home automation has previously been shown in videos posted by its developer community. The rollout of an enterprise-focused series is a smart move from this Kitchener-based startup in a time when many are focusing on this segment. The vertical has seen early success with wearable tech including Google who recently launched its “Glass at Work” program and Salesforce who launched the industry’s first initiative for wearable computing, the “Wearable Developer Pack,” back in June.
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