The Falling of Momo: A Myo-Electric Controlled Game to Support Research in Prosthesis Training

Myoelectric control makes use of the electrical signals created by the body's muscles as an input to control a device, such as a prosthetic limb or powered orthosis. While myoelectric prostheses have been in use and under constant R&D for almost 50 years, they are not without problems. For myoelectric control to be effective the user has to learn how to activate and control muscles in isolation and in ways that are unintuitive but easily interpreted by the system. Learning how to control muscles in this way can be a frustrating and time consuming process. In this paper, we outline our work to develop a training game that aims to setup prosthesis wearers for success by mapping typical controls used for prostheses to game input. Furthermore, our game provides a wide range of options that allow the input controls and game difficulty to be scaled appropriately to the skill of the player. Above all, our game aims to be fun and, unlike previous myoelectric training games, it focuses on providing a fully featured casual game.