Since 2002 and the release of Minority Report, hand gesture driven computing has been a dream of UI designers everywhere. Thanks to a Canadian company called Thalmic Labs, we won’t have to wait until 2054 to control PowerPoint presentations with our hands. The Kitchener-based company today announced Myo for Presentations.
The app works with PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, Google Slides and Adobe Reader. As the name suggests, it allows Myo owners to use the company’s armband to control their presentations.
Besides acting as a pointer, it’s also possible to use hand gestures with the armband to zoom in at slides to interact with other content.
“We’re excited to make the technology behind Myo, which has already been used to control robots, fly drones and make music, available to a wider audience with very practical use out of the box,” said Stephen Lake, co-founder of Thalamic Labs. “We’re now allowing presenters to truly wow their audience by taking control of their slides and engaging with their content in real-time.”
To date, the company says that it has shipped 50,000 units of its armband to developers and consumers. Starting today, the Myo is also available in Canada through Best Buy’s website.