{"id":246500,"date":"2026-11-04T06:38:52","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T12:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/11\/smartwatches-could-learn-to-read-your-hands"},"modified":"2026-11-04T06:38:52","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T12:38:52","slug":"smartwatches-could-learn-to-read-your-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/11\/smartwatches-could-learn-to-read-your-hands","title":{"rendered":"Smartwatches could learn to read your hands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><iframe title=\"Smartwatches could learn to read your hands\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0 auto; width: 100%; aspect-ratio: 4\/3; object-fit: contain;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-jJ6uhS6Kgo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope;\n   picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Northwestern University engineers are investigating new ways to tell what the hands are doing\u2014including peering beneath the skin to watch muscles and tendons move. The new methods don\u2019t use high-tech cameras, medical scans or advanced imaging techniques. Instead, they use a common smartwatch.<\/p>\n<p>In one project, engineers designed a new smartwatch system to glean activities from the arm and hands. In another, electrodes built into the back of a watch can track more subtle hand movements and gestures, such as a thumbs-up or clenched fist.<\/p>\n<p>By tracking these movements, researchers could one day help improve the control of bionic prosthetics or monitor patients in specialized care settings, including elder care. Beyond health care, the systems also could make smartwatches easier to use, much like facial recognition has simplified smartphone access, or extend to monitoring everyday activities, such as helping dental hygienists track how many teeth they clean in a week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Northwestern University engineers are investigating new ways to tell what the hands are doing\u2014including peering beneath the skin to watch muscles and tendons move. The new methods don\u2019t use high-tech cameras, medical scans or advanced imaging techniques. Instead, they use a common smartwatch. In one project, engineers designed a new smartwatch system to glean activities [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1499,1495,1512,6,1501],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-cyborgs","category-health","category-mobile-phones","category-robotics-ai","category-transhumanism-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246500\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}