I was in the same YC batch as Thalmic, and 2 years before that I did a PhD in neuroscience at a lab where one of the projects involved recording from forearm muscles using <i>implanted</i> electrodes. Even when you have the electrodes inside the arm you see a ton of signal from other muscles and it’s quite hard to unscramble useful information in a single trial. After demo day I was kinda surprised they raised so much money, anyone who had done forearm EMG work would have told you that you just can’t get good enough signals at the surface to do what they’re proposing. But I’ve since learned that a lot of VCs just don’t do scientific diligence, they invest based on people and markets. And in spite of my skepticism I too was hoping that Thalmic had figured out some killer special case of blind source separation and the Myo would work beautifully.
I figured there was a new product launch coming soon, they recently rented a large storefront in my neighborhood in Brooklyn and have been building it out like a flagship retail store. Curious choice of location if you ask me, I think their broker oversold this part of Brooklyn as the new Soho, which it is certainly not in terms of foot traffic and tourists.<p>Anyhow, I was not terribly impressed by the initial product and fairly shocked with how much money they raised after it. Interested to see what’s next.
I've worked a lot with EMG and EEG, and always wondered how they got past the huge problems with variation, lack of sensitivity and reliability. From this and what I've read from users it looks like they didn't actually get past them.
I do wonder what the impediment to continuing sales is. Was the armband a loss leader of some sort? Were the sales not high enough? Were there widespread product failures?<p>It always seemed like a rather neat concept, but I generally noticed that even out of all the people I know who love playing with cutting edge prosumer tech like this, none of them had a Myo armband. I do wonder if perhaps they found no real market for the technology and are intent on actually pivoting to something else...
I wish this article said more about <i>why</i> they're stopping sales and their experiences supporting the device with customers.<p>Its easy to assume sales were flat/declining - but with recent news about their north glasses; maybe its redirecting resources ??
Ugh. I still have mine. I ordered two. One is still unopened. My forearm got too sore trying make a fist, or spread it for the gestures. If it was more sensitive, it was too easy to inadvertently trigger an action.<p>If anyone wants to buy them off of me, lemme know.
Well, we need some duds to get the big wins. This is just a sign of a more than healthy industry (taking risks and sometimes failing). No need to feel bad.
There wasn't a big enough market for their futuristic arm band without clear use cases (or reliable functioning), and I'm not confident it would be any different for their smart glasses coming out next.<p>What's bothersome is the large amount of VC funding [1] that went into these guys. After they blow it, investors will be wary which will further retard progress in the field of HCI technologies.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.canadianbusiness.com/innovation/thalmic-labs-intel-amazon-funding/" rel="nofollow">https://www.canadianbusiness.com/innovation/thalmic-labs-int...</a>