philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Inside Facebook Reality Labs: Wrist-based interaction for the next computing platform

• Facebook Reality Labs, its AR/VR research division, showed off its futuristic wristband for controlling AR glasses to the media this week. The prototype device, still years away, can scan electrical signals traveling from the spinal cord to the hand and fingers, enabling it to predict what a user wants to do and replicating that in AR/VR environments.

• While wearing the band and glasses, users could interact with the VR world through subtle finger movements — such as using a "click" gesture to indicate that they want to hear a podcast.
• The technology could allow users to type on a virtual keyboard and generally manipulate AR objects overlaid in the real world.
• During a demonstration, researchers showed how a wearer could pinch their fingers to hold and control AR objects, which Facebook dubbed "force" movements after "Star Wars."
• The device detects finger motion of only a millimeter, using electromyography to translate electrical sensors from our nerves into digital commands.
• Though there's no timeline for release, the company previously said it hopes to get such a device "into people’s hands over the next 10 years, even as it continues to evolve for decades to come."
• While Facebook's smart glasses will arrive later this year, they won't have traditional augmented reality features. The company is developing the glasses with Ray-Ban and its parent, Luxottica Group SpA.

See the full story here: https://tech.fb.com/inside-facebook-reality-labs-wrist-based-interaction-for-the-next-computing-platform/