Research engineers from Imperial College London have developed an armband concept that trains muscles to perform specific sports-related strokes or movements via haptic feedback. Nicknamed the “Ghost,” the armband detects the motion of the wearer and triggers a buzz for feedback.

Internal software will then trigger the correct pattern of muscle movements, such as the exact swing of a popular athlete, for the wearer to learn through rote. In this manner, a specific muscle motion is done repeatedly and inspires muscle memory retention. Sensors built into the Ghost detect the twists and flexes of a user’s joints, and haptic feedback and sounds may flag whether a user is doing the motions correctly.

From the creators of Ghost:

It is vision that allows us to imitate and refine muscular movements, and as such, having a severe visual impairment can make it difficult to correct and perfect these complex motion skills. Athletes depend on physical interaction and auditory feedback from their coach to refine their kinesthetic movements. Our device provides an instant feedback via vibration for constant technique improvement in conjunction  with or in the absence of the coach.

Ghost