Myo Gesture Control Band Controls MPL Prosthetic Arm

The Modular Prosthetic Limb has suddenly become a lot more versatile as the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory-developed prosthetic works with the Myo armband. The Myo armband is a gesture-control accessory that allows people to control all manner of devices and software as it senses movements in their arm*. Muscles expand and contract and the armband sends signals wirelessly to other devices. In this case, it means that the armbands are able to give this MPL arm movement.

With the Modular Prosthetic Limb, developed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, working with the Myo armband, Johnny Matheny's lost arm is far closer to its original functionality than ever before. Below you'll see a video showing Matheny using Myo to make his MPL as natural as possible.

Next you'll see a video showing the many uses Myo has besides controlling a prosthetic arm. All sorts of oddities are possible with Myo, from controlling drones to playing games and moving through slides.

*The folks at Thalamic Labs have created Myo, working with EMG (electromyography) sensors to measure electrical pulses in your arm, converting them to simple signals able to be fed into a computer to control all manner of odds and ends. With his MPL, that means the ability to naturally make a fist, rotate the arm, open the hand, and shake.

The Myo gesture control armband has been available for some time now for around $200 from a variety of retailers and online through Thalamic Labs directly.