By the wave of the hand

A bit of background

Once on a sunny Friday morning in June, after finishing all the current affairs, I sat back and plunged into the jungle of the Internet. At some point, the FilegiverCom article about Myo came across to me. Before that, I had already heard about this thing, but at that moment I somehow did not betray this meaning, but here she became interested in me. And not only me! After reading the article and my colleagues, too, we had a heated discussion about how this device can be used in everyday life. Not having come to some kind of agreement, we decided that we should touch it personally, and I placed an order.
Until October, there were no changes, except for receiving mailings with the latest company news. And on October 24 (almost exactly in four months) I received a text message from the bank about the withdrawal of funds, after which my wait was delayed.
I checked the mailbox every day, but the cherished check in it was never there. In early December, writing in support with the question: “ Where exactly is it? "- I received the answer that the device was sent, we can not give you a tracker, but usually it comes to six weeks. And I waited on.
And so, on my way back home on the 18th , I almost no longer hoped for anything, looked into the drawer and found a notice there. My joy knew no bounds, but I could get to the post office only on Saturday. On Friday, I announced the news to my colleagues and, what was my surprise when one of them showed me this article.
In any case, on Saturday I got to the post office, took the device and, having tinker with it for a while, decided to tell you about the impressions.

Unpacking

The box itself with the device is quite compact and looks like this:

Inside is:

1. Device itself
2. Bluetooth adapter ( does not connect to the built-in 4.0 laptop )
3. USB-micro cable - USB , for charging and primary connection
4. Clamps for resizing
5. Thank you card

The first putting on the arm caused some difficulties, because even the device, which was slightly inflated by my hand, went with a good fit, and its elastic characteristics were not known to me yet:

By the way, after half an hour of use, decent traces remain on the arm, which suggests that Myo can only be used for some specific tasks, and not worn as a fitness tracker, removing only for recharging.

Connection

Go to the site http://myo.com/start and download applications for your platform.
I decided to connect Myo before installing it, because it was interesting how Windows recognizes it. He recognized it like this:

After launching the application and connecting to another USB port of the adapter, the device was not persistently recognized until I changed the adapter and its places (that is, I just had to plug the device into another port, but I only have two on my laptop).
Next, the setting is done by the master.
Connecting to the Android- smartphone was no problem, the only thing - first, the device must be disconnected from the previous device (do not untie it!).

Using

At first I tried to use Myo to control the VLC player. In principle, everything was not bad, but for some reason switching the songs did not work. Experiencedly achieved that he was able to shift the position in the current composition forward or backward (the team should be quick, not long), which suggests that the teams have changed in the new version of the player.
For the smartphone installed this application. With the management of Google Music, it coped well, but its sensitivity to the teams is too high.
By the way, about the teams. In standby mode, Myo listens to only one: double-tap with your middle finger over a large finger, after which it goes into control mode. Actually, there are only four teams:

1. Spread your fingers
2. Take your hand away from you
3. Take your hand to yourself
4. Squeeze fist

Myo is also well-versed in space. This is used, for example, in the “ Fist ” command: by turning the hand clockwise / counterclockwise, you can increase / decrease the volume in the same VLC .
')

Development

Being a developer, of course, I could not pass by in order not to do any software myself. Having rummaged on https://developer.thalmic.com , I found out that it is possible not only to develop my applications using the SDK , but also to implement the management of already existing Myo Script tools.
The SDK is supplied only for C ++ , and, as an avid .Net developer, I was already going to write my own wrapper, but, having searched, I found two already existing ones. One did not start with me, c, everything flew normally, which is not surprising.
There is an SDK for Android too, but I haven’t felt it yet.
But! Once again I want to note that wearing Myo around the clock will be very problematic. Therefore, the development of a computer control program, by analogy with the programs that control it from the console, does not make any sense. The software should be either very specific, or extremely necessary, so that the user is not lazy to put on and take off the device every time. I have a few ideas for Android , and a little less for Windows , but that's another story ...

findings

As expected - the gadget is extremely interesting. Recognition of gestures in 95% of cases is true. Great prospects have a bunch of Myo - a smartphone. This is both fitness and serious sport. The device can also be extremely useful for drivers, especially two-wheeled vehicles. In any case, this is the future that only a few years ago we were drawn to us only by directors of science fiction films and it seems that it has come ...