Our elderly readers may remember all the way back in October of 2009 when we showed you the first video of Microsoft Research's muscle-based game control interface. While it'd be a safe bet to say that the project is still very much in the prototype phase, the experimental division of Microsoft recently filed a patent application for the "Wearable Electromyography-based Controller for Human-Computer Interface", effectively bringing us all one step closer to a future with fully realized air guitar.

Sure, the interface could be used for "computer stuff" or something we suppose, but what'd be the fun in that? Though, as Engadget points out, we're not likely to see anything more solid on this in the near future -- most Microsoft Research projects are "pretty far from market." That being said, a combination of muscle sensor-based control and the not quite 1:1 video capture of Project Natal could produce some rather intriguing results. Your move, Big M.

Posted: Jan 05, 2010 12:31 am