Characterization of hand gestures by a smartphone-based optical fiber force myography sensor

In this paper, a smartphone-integrated, optical fiber sensor based on the force myography technique (FMG), which characterizes the stimuli of the forearm muscles in terms of mechanical pressures, was proposed for the identification of hand gestures. The device’s flashlight excites a pair of polymer optical fibers and the output signals are detected by the camera. The light intensity is modulated through wearable, force-driven microbending transducers placed in the forearm and the acquired optical signals are processed by an algorithm based on decision trees and residual error. The sensor provided a hit rate of 87% regarding four postures, yielding reliable performance with a simple, portable, and low-cost setup embedded on a smartphone.