Concept: Asynchronous muscle recording

Through our “synthesizing future” process we unearthed the concept of “asynchronous muscle recording,” and began thinking about real-life examples of electric muscle stimulation, and what other applications this technology could have. We came to TENS, an ab machine that stimulates the muscles in your core. With this in mind, we theorized: What if we could record this muscle stimulation and play it back in someone else’s body?

Futurity: Remote Body Control

Remote body control is an apparatus that connects the muscles of two different bodies through a panel of wires. When two people are connected through the panel with wires and pads, one person’s movements will be mimicked involuntarily by the other.

Looking Forward

From this, we asked how we could push this idea even further. Can we record the muscles in a plant, and translate it into a human? How about if we could track the complicated nuances of a human’s movements and transfer it into someone else, like if an experienced piano player’s muscular activity could be recorded and reinstated into a novice? Even more impactful, can we use this technology to stimulate the muscles of someone who doesn’t have direct control over their muscles, like someone with paraplegia? What we know for sure: technology like this could change lives.