Hands-free motion control is real: Introducing the Myo

Imagine yourself controlling your presentation by just moving your hands- tap your thumb and middle finger to move to the next slide, bend your wrist and point your fingers towards your belly to go back the previous slide, or squee your fist tight to use your hand as "laser pointer".

You can do all these with Myo armband, the latest in gesture control computing technology created by Thalmic Labs..

"Myo for Presentations" was launched this May by Thalmic Labs. Also known as Myo armband, it is an armband with matte-black rubber covering with zigzag bands connecting the contact and sensors module blocks.

When worn, Myo reads the electrical activity of muscles along with the arms' motions for people to control a presentation freely.  This techy armband is not only for PowerPoint but also works with other applications such as Google Slides, Adobe Reader, Prezi, and Keynote.

Myo is a rechargeable device, but once fully charged and setup, you don't need to plug it often because it lasts for a couple of days. Through its utility app, Myo can be switched off as it has no on-off feature.

"We're excited to make the technology behind Myo, which has already been used to control robots, fly drones, and make music, available to a wide audience with very practical use out of the box. We are now allowing presenters to truly wow their audience by taking control of their slides and engaging with their content in real-time," said Stephen Lake, Thalmic Labs' CEO.

From the day Myo armbands was launched, it has already shipped out over 50,000 boxes. Myo may be pricey, costing about $199 but the novelty might catch the interest of many people. Myo can also be used in more than 90 applications like Adobe Lightroom, Reddit and games like Need for Speed Most Wanted.