A versatile human machine interface for gesture recognition with applications in virtual reality

In recent years, the technological advancements had led to the development of ultra-high definition immersive video technology and virtual reality (VR) systems from companies like Microsoft, Nintendo, Facebook etc. VR has applications in many fields such as gaming, surgery training, robotics, and rehabilitation. To enable intuitive control of VR systems, this research aimed to evaluate a user-oriented and versatile gesture control interface for VR systems. Specifically, a first-person shooter (FPS) VR game was developed using Unity 3D and interfaced with an electromyogram (EMG)-based gesture control interface developed by the SFSU Intelligent Computing and Embedded Systems Laboratory (ICE Lab). A comparable study has been done on able-bodied human subjects to compare the gesture-based control scheme and the keyboard and mouse-based control scheme.