Wristband Enables Wearers to Control Robotic Hand

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a wearable device that controls robotic movements. The ultrasound-based wristband tracks hand movements in real-time, producing images of the wrist's muscles, tendons, and ligaments. It is paired with an AI algorithm that translates these images into corresponding finger and palm positions, allowing users to wirelessly control a robotic hand. The device enables users to direct a robot to perform tasks such as playing piano or shooting a basketball, or manipulate objects in a virtual environment. The wristband is designed to be compact, with onboard electronics about the size of a cellphone. The engineers plan to use the device to gather hand motion data from multiple users to build a large dataset for training humanoid robots.