Y Combinator Backed Thalmic Labs Introduces MYO, the Motion Tracking Armband

Last month Techvibes reported that Waterloo’s Thalmic Labs had been selected for startup accelerator Y Combinator’s winter 2013 cohort.

At that time Thalmic Labs was being very secretive about what they were working on but yesterday they did the big reveal.

They’ve come up with a way to do gesture control without a camera.

Thalmic’s MYO device is a band that fits around a users’ forearm, and uses a combination of biometrical signals, as well as data from gyroscopes and accelerometers, to track and interpret movement. Different gestures, such as the snapping of a finger or the turning of an invisible knob, produce different electrical signals that MYO can track.

Check it out in action.

The first batch of 25,000 devices will ship in late 2013, and can be preordered now for $149.

Founded 8 months ago by three uWaterloo mechatronics grads, Thalmic Labs has raised a seed round totaling $1.1 million which includes angel investments from ATI Technologies co-founder Lee Lau, Dayforce co-founder David Ossip, and Rypple co-founder Dan Debow.