Goal

The initial goal of my graduation project of Creative Technology was to create an application for the MYO armband of Thalmic labs. This armband reads out the electromyogram (EMG) of the user, which allows it to read out how much muscle force the user is producing. Furthermore, it reads out the movement of the armband using an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer.

Brainstorm

Since the initial goal of the project is very broad first an actual product idea had to be found. Using various brainstorm techniques two final ideas were left. First, a product for teachers that allowed them to write on the whiteboard from anywhere in the classroom. And second, a product that allowed tennissers to record their movement and power, which in combination with a trainer can be used to give feedback toward the tennisser. After various interviews with tennissers and teachers the second option was chosen.

Product

After various specification techniques, the creation of requirements and the construction of a system architecture the final product features it main functionalities. It can record, store and visualise the movement and power of the wearer. Currently, the product is very general and therefor the usage for logging of tennis movements is definitely not its only application. Indicative tests have also shown that it could be used to write in the air, for instance. A demonstration of the final prototype can be seen from 8:30 onward in the video below.

Movie

Below the movie of the project presentation can be found. If you are solely interested in a demonstration, I would recommend to skip to 8:30.