Waterloo, Ont.-based Thalmic Labs is freeing PowerPoint ninjas and slideshow wizards from their reliance on handheld clickers with the launch of a new application for its Myo armband, the firm announced on Thursday.
Myo, a device that you wear on your forearm and translates hand gestures and arm motions into commands for a computer, is now getting Myo for Presentations added to its bag of tricks. That will allow presenters to use gestures to move back and forth through slide presentations given with PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, Google Slides and Adobe Reader.
Thalmic Labs introduces Presentations in this Youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjgRH3jdAAs
Features of the app include the ability to use hand gestures to navigate through presentations, control a digital pointer, and zoom.
Myo has already been put to work in business settings by APX Labs, which pairs it with smart glasses to help field workers complete jobs while keeping their hands free from technology. But this marks the first application that Thalmic Labs has produced in-house and has wide-ranging appeal to a variety of business users. That could mean the wearable will start becoming more commonplace in offices, but whether giving hands-free presentations justifies the $200 price tag probably depends on just how often you give presentations.
Thalmic Labs says it has shipped 50,000 armbands so far, likely most of them going to developers looking to create third-party applications for the device. The device is now available for retail purchase from Myo.com.
Thalmic Labs says it is also available on BestBuy.ca, but the site doesn’t appear to carry the product just yet. Presumably it’ll be added soon.