Microsoft Secures Patent for Wearable Controller Technology

Microsoft has a patented a wearable, Electromyography (EMG) based controller.

Wearable EMG tech works by interpreting the electrical signals generated by your muscles when you move. It can be used to control various gadgets, including consoles.

Microsoft's particular application for the tech includes an armband, a wristband and clothes. In regards to the armband tech, it could be used to pick up specific gestures, meaning motion control becomes a possibility.

However, it is believed that Microsoft are no longer pursuing the tech. The company filed the patent in March 2009, but it was dropped in favour of Kinect, which was released in November 2010. Patents take a while to make their way through the system.

Thought to relate to what Microsoft had codenamed Loop, the EMG controller is also thought to be more accurate than both the Wii Remote and the PlayStation’s Move controller. You can watch a video of it in action below. A vision of what might have been.

Sweet! but we might be really old men by the time it comes out!