Electrically conductive element placed as close as possible to a signal source (the muscle for EMG signals) acting as the interface between the body and the signal recording apparatus
Published in Chapter:
EMG for Subtle, Intimate Interfaces
Enrico Costanza (University of Southampton, UK), Samuel A. Inverso (The Australian National University, Australia), Rebecca Allen (UCLA Design | Media Arts, USA), and Pattie Maes (MIT Media Lab, USA)
Copyright: © 2008
|Pages: 19
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-871-0.ch031
Abstract
Mobile interfaces should be designed to enable subtle, discreet, and unobtrusive interaction. Biosignals and, in particular, the electromyographic (EMG) signal, can provide a subtle input modality for mobile interfaces. The EMG signal is generated by a muscle contraction and can be used for volitional control; its greatest potential for mobile interfaces is its ability to sense muscle activity not related to movement. An EMG-based wearable input device, the Intimate Communication Armband, is presented in this chapter to demonstrate this subtle interaction concept. The device detects subtle, motionless gestures from the upper arm. Experimental results show that the gestures are reliably recognized without user or machine training, that the system can be used effectively to control a multimodal interface, and that it is very difficult for observers to guess when a trained user is performing subtle gestures, confirming the subtlety of the proposed interaction.