THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Technology Details • Noninvasive, nonintrusive monitoring of bioelectric signals on a human • Rapid, real-time analyses and identification of an executed gesture by a human • Control of an instrument (computer, signal processor, cellphone, etc.) • Control of an aircraft and other mobile vehicles • Data entry from a keyboard or other device • Virtual entry of data and command in extreme environments Benefits NASA has invented a virtual system that monitors and interprets bioelectric signals in human muscles and related body components that are generated by gestures. This new system, which is both noninvasive and non-intrusive, translates bioelectric signals in the human body to one of more electronic commands for a selected instrument, such as a computer, signal processor, vehicle controller, and cellphone. The bioelectric signals monitored in this invention are primarily electromyographic (EMG) signals, which are due to motion of one or more muscles in the human body. The system includes two or more spaced-apart sensors, each including one or more electrodes that sense bioelectric signals appearing at the surface of the skin in the monitored person.