Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021 - 24

Electrical/Electronics
Device Detects Which Hand Gesture a Person Intends
to Make
The device paves the way for better prosthetic control and seamless interaction with
electronic devices.
University of California, Berkeley
new device can recognize hand gestures
based on electrical signals de -
tected in the forearm. The system, which
couples wearable biosensors with artificial
intelligence (AI), could one day be
used to control prosthetics or to interact
with almost any type of electronic de -
vice. Reading hand gestures is one way
of improving human-computer interaction.
And while there are other ways of
doing that, this solution also maintains
an individual's privacy.
To create the hand gesture recognition
system, researchers designed a flexible
armband that can read the electrical
signals at 64 different points on the forearm.
The electrical signals are then fed
into an electrical chip programmed with
an AI algorithm capable of associating
these signal patterns in the forearm with
specific hand gestures. The team succeeded
in teaching the algorithm to recognize
21 individual hand gestures in -
cluding a thumbs-up, a fist, a flat hand,
holding up individual fingers, and
counting numbers.
A
When a person wants their hand muscles
to contract, the brain sends electrical
signals through neurons in the neck
and shoulders to muscle fibers in the
arms and hands. The electrodes in the
cuff are sensing this electrical field to
recognize certain patterns. Like other AI
software, the algorithm has to first
" learn " how electrical signals in the arm
correspond with individual hand gestures.
To do this, each user has to wear
The device combines wearable biosensors with artificial intelligence software to help recognize
what hand gesture a person intends to make based on electrical signal patterns in the forearm.
(Image courtesy of the Rabaey Lab)
the cuff while making the hand gestures
one by one.
The new device uses a type of AI called
a hyperdimensional com puting algorithm
that is capable of updating itself
with new information. If the electrical
signals associated with a specific hand
gesture change because a user's arm gets
sweaty or they raise their arm above their
head, the algorithm can incorporate this
new information into its model.
Another advantage of the new device
is that all of the computing occurs locally
on the chip: No personal data are
transmitted to a nearby computer or de -
vice. Not only does this speed up the
computing time but it also ensures that
personal biological data remain private.
A process was developed so the learning
is done on the device itself.
For more information, contact Kara Manke
at kjmanke@berkeley.edu; 510-643-7741.
Coating Protects Fragile Quantum Electronics
The protective coating works like body armor for the atomically thin materials.
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
team of scientists has invented the
equivalent of body armor for ex -
tremely fragile quantum systems, which
will make them robust enough to be
used as the basis for a new generation of
low-energy electronics.
A
The team created the protective layer
by exposing to air a droplet of liquid gal24
Cov
lium,
which immediately formed a perfectly
even layer of gallium oxide on its
surface three nanometers thick. By
squashing the droplet on top of the 2D
material with a glass slide, the gallium
oxide layer can be transferred from the
liquid gallium onto the material's entire
surface, up to centimeters in scale.
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ToC
Because this ultrathin gallium oxide is
an insulating amorphous glass, it conserves
the optoelectronic properties of
the underlying 2D semiconductor. The
gallium oxide glass can also enhance
these properties at cryogenic temperatures
and protects well against other
materials deposited on top. This allows
Tech Briefs, October 2021

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Tech Briefs Magazine - October 2021

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