The evolution of the mouse and touchscreens is coming. The next step will be to click with our mind. At least that is what Facebook believes, which is now showing us its prototype bracelet capable of translating the signals of our brain and allowing control digital objects just by thinking.
Mike Schroepfer, CTO of Facebook, explains that “augmented reality is the next great evolution of computing. And although many of the devices that make it possible do not yet exist, we do know that they will require new forms of interaction.” To adapt to this next ecosystem that is coming, that of augmented reality, from Facebook they show us this bracelet that will allow you to move through the interface in a natural way and without having to move your fingers. Just thinking.
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The Facebook bracelet is based on electromyography (EMG), a technique encompassed in the field of neuroscience which has already been tested in the past by MIT researchers and that for a decade large technology companies such as Microsoft they have among their plans to address the issue of control without touching
With a rather rough appearance and a size somewhat larger than a smartwatchAccording to Facebook, the device is capable of interpreting the electrical activity of the nerves as the brain sends information to the hand. Equivalent to when the hand receives the nerve signal to move, the bracelet could translate this signal to digitally apply the brain’s command.
Just by thinking of moving your finger, the Facebook device would allow you to move through augmented reality interfaces, as described from Facebook.
It is not the first time that Facebook talks about remote control for augmented reality. Already during the Facebook F8 conference in 2017, the company hinted at new forms of control. It has not been until now that their Reality Labs department has shown this prototype on video.
With the “mental click”, Facebook thinks it will be able to convince new users of the advantages of augmented reality. Something that in the past the different specialized glasses such as Gafas Google waves Snap Spectacles.
More details about this new project are unknown. At the moment Facebook explains that it is developing internally. No announced anticipation of when we could learn more information.
In September 2019, Facebook bought CTRL-Labs for between 500 and 1,000 million dollars, a startup that developed a bracelet to control computers with the mind. Until now we had not known the status of this collaboration, but Facebook has revealed the first details and the intention to go further with this idea of mind control for augmented reality.
Thomas reardon, founder of CTRL-Labs and renowned neuroscientist With experience at Microsoft, he currently leads the Facebook Reality Labs group and explains that it is not a bracelet that “reads the mind”, since this “comes from the part of the brain that controls motor information, not the thought. ”
“Think of it this way. You take a lot of photos and choose to share only a few of them. Similarly, you have a lot of thoughts and choose to act only on some of them. When that happens, the brain sends signals to the hands and fingers telling them to be. move in specific ways to perform actions like typing and swiping. decode those signals on your wrist, the actions you have already decided to take, and translate them into digital commands for your device. It’s a much faster way to follow the instructions you already send to your device when you tap to select a song on your phone, click the mouse, or type on a keyboard, “Reardon describes.
According to those responsible for Facebook, a world of possibilities and a new way of interacting adapted to the new style of devices that large companies plan to launch in the coming years.
More information | Facebook Reality Labs
was originally published in
Engadget
for
Enrique Perez
.
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