Microsoft Files Patent For Muscle-Powered Wearable Controller

Are you growing tired of playing games with a controller? Love Kinect but want something more? 

Yeah, me neither, but it looks like that hasn't stopped Microsoft from pursing new controller tech. Thanks to a patent first spotted by IGN, we have information on some crazy new wearable technology Microsoft is apparently looking into. They're calling it a ‘Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller’ which reads a player's muscle output to control the experience.

Check out the full details below.

A ‘Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller’ includes a plurality of Electromyography (EMG) sensors and provides a wired or wireless human-computer interface (HCl) for interacting with computing systems and attached devices via electrical signals generated by specific movement of the user’s muscles.

Following initial automated self-calibration and positional localization processes, measurement and interpretation of muscle generated electrical signals is accomplished by sampling signals from the EMG sensors of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller.

In operation, the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller is donned by the user and placed into a coarsely approximate position on the surface of the user’s skin. Automated cues or instructions are then provided to the user for fine-tuning placement of the Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller.

Examples of Wearable Electromyography-Based Controllers include articles of manufacture, such as an armband, wristwatch, or article of clothing having a plurality of integrated EMG-based sensor nodes and associated electronics.

If anything, this new technology screams "Xbox Fitness", as controlling something like Halo 6 with my muscles seems kind of ridiculous. There's also the strong possibility that this will never see the light of day, and I'd be totally alright with that. Wearable sensors all over my body? No thank you!