A new solution from the University of Chicago’s Human Computer Integration Laboratory, combined electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) and mechanical brakes. DextrEMS, a haptic device invented and developed in the Department of Computer Science. As EMS electrodes on the forearm move fingers to their desired position, ratchet brakes at the finger joints lock them in the target gesture and restrict unwanted movement from other fingers.
EMS works by affixing electrodes to the user’s skin, then sending small, painless electrical signals that cause muscles to contract. For controlling the fingers, EMS electrodes are commonly placed on the wrist and forearm, where the finger muscles originate. But because of this distance and the close proximity of muscles for different fingers, it’s hard to control digits independently. Even natural motion, controlled by the brain, struggles to move a single finger without also moving its neighbors.
More information:
https://news.uchicago.edu/story/new-wearable-device-controls-individual-fingers-sign-language-music