An interesting video on Microsoft's muscle-computer interface; the idea is under development in conjunction with the University of Washington in Seattle, and the University of Toronto.
A band of electrodes attach to a person's forearm and read electrical activity from different arm muscles. These signals are then correlated to specific hand gestures, such as touching a finger and thumb together, or gripping an object tighter than normal...
(Muscle-Computer interface video)
Thanks to Ashley's comment, and some material on Winchel Chung's sf sidearms page, I found a new reference in Harry Harrison's 1960 novel Deathworld:
Here, take your left hand and grasp an imaginary gunbutt. Tense your trigger finger. Do you notice the pattern of the tendons in the wrist? Sensitive actuators touch the tendons in your right wrist. They ignore all patterns except the one that says hand ready to receive gun...
(Read more about Harry Harrison's power holster)
Thanks again, readers!
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/6/2010)
Nanowire Memristor Networks Form 'Brains'
'He had constructed ... a brain, of metal... whose atomic structure he claimed was analogous to the atomic structure of a living brain.'- Edmond Hamilton, 1926.
US Census Will Be Online In 2020
'Most would be in English, but some would be in Spanish, some in Amerind languages, some in Chinese...'- John Brunner, 1975.
Wireless Brain-Computer Interface
'I used my implant to tell MILLIE [a mainframe computer] what we wanted and she took care of it," Art said.'- Pournelle and Niven, 1981.
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Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'