Microsoft patents wearable controller tech, powered by muscles

Microsoft has filed a patent for what it calls a 'Wearable Electromyography-Based Controller', making use of tech that records muscle output to communicate with games. The company also recently filed patents for 'environmental display' tech that projects game environments around your front room.

IGN reported on the patent, which was filed back in July.

Here's the patent descriptor in full. Pics are 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.

Wearable hardware has been attracting a lot of interest recently, with a Valve goggle prototype being snapped by an NY Times journalist, Sony's new HMZ being showcased at TGS, and with Oculus Rift being funded on Kickstarter.

Is this the future, or does it make you uneasy? Let us know below.