Data-centric neuromotor interfaces for portable human-machine interaction

Jiaxuan Li , Di Wu , Jianhua Liu , Yuxin Zhao , Jinnuo Li , Xiao Zhang , Zhenzhi Ying , Changsheng Dai , Xiang Li , Liming Shu

Soft Science ›› 2026, Vol. 6 ›› Issue (4) : 83

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Soft Science ›› 2026, Vol. 6 ›› Issue (4) :83 DOI: 10.20517/ss.2026.124
Research Article
Data-centric neuromotor interfaces for portable human-machine interaction
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Abstract

Dexterous human-machine interaction requires intuitive and expressive interfaces that can be efficiently deployed on constrained edge devices. Flexible material-based neuromotor interfaces hold considerable promise, as they decode human movement intention into natural control. Although emerging flexible electronic skins enable wearable high-fidelity data acquisition, practical deployment inevitably involves trade-offs between computational resources and portability. We present a data-centric paradigm where physiological features yield fundamental separability, providing sufficient discriminative cues for recognition. A wireless, high-bandwidth system developed for collecting various electrophysiological signals, when integrated with muscle-specific electrodes, forms a surface electromyography-based interface. Exploiting highly separable data, a 2,210-parameter model achieves 94.36% accuracy across 34 gestures and can be rapidly deployed on edge devices, establishing a new thousand-parameter benchmark for dexterous decoding. The underlying data–algorithm interactions in the data-centric paradigm are further clarified, demonstrating its feasibility in real-world scenarios. This study provides a principled and validated pathway for practical deployment of reliable neuromotor interfaces.

Keywords

Flexible electrode array / gesture recognition / lightweight algorithm / signal separability / surface electromyography / wearable sensing

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Jiaxuan Li, Di Wu, Jianhua Liu, Yuxin Zhao, Jinnuo Li, Xiao Zhang, Zhenzhi Ying, Changsheng Dai, Xiang Li, Liming Shu. Data-centric neuromotor interfaces for portable human-machine interaction. Soft Science, 2026, 6 (4) : 83 DOI:10.20517/ss.2026.124

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