Watch A Myo-Controlled Humanoid Robot Lay The Groundwork For Real-World ‘Real Steel’

The Thalmic Labs Myo gesture controller is already in the hands of some early developers, and it’s producing some pretty interesting looks at what might be possible using the gadget. The device is an armband worn on the forearm that detects electrical impulses and translates that into input for computing devices. The Myo has strong possibilities for interacting with robots in particular, and while we’ve seen it manipulating some industrial bots, a new demo video from a Korean robotics firm shows what it might be capable of pulling the virtual strings with more human-like automatons.

The movement isn’t one-to-one, but it is impressive. And the company behind it has plenty of experience in making humanoid bots (inspired by Marvel superheroes) that can mimic human actions, but usually they go through a pre-programmed routine instead of responding to direct input. Also, this is the result of very little time with the Myo dev alpha unit, too, so there’s likely a lot more possible in terms of getting these mini superhero robots to parrot the actions of their human overlords.

I am yet but a man, but one day I wish to be more, and maybe, just maybe, the Myo and a house-sized battle bot will let me fulfill my potential. I vow to smash only bad things.