Time2Vec Transformer for Robust Gesture Recognition from Low-Density sEMG

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Hristov, Blagoj, Gjoreski, Hristijan, Latkoska, Vesna Ojleska, Nadzinski, Gorjan
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Hristov, Blagoj
Gjoreski, Hristijan
Latkoska, Vesna Ojleska
Nadzinski, Gorjan
author_facet Hristov, Blagoj
Gjoreski, Hristijan
Latkoska, Vesna Ojleska
Nadzinski, Gorjan
contents Accurate and responsive myoelectric prosthesis control typically relies on complex, dense multi-sensor arrays, which limits consumer accessibility. This paper presents a novel, data-efficient deep learning framework designed to achieve precise and accurate control using minimal sensor hardware. Leveraging an external dataset of 8 subjects, our approach implements a hybrid Transformer optimized for sparse, two-channel surface electromyography (sEMG). Unlike standard architectures that use fixed positional encodings, we integrate Time2Vec learnable temporal embeddings to capture the stochastic temporal warping inherent in biological signals. Furthermore, we employ a normalized additive fusion strategy that aligns the latent distributions of spatial and temporal features, preventing the destructive interference common in standard implementations. A two-stage curriculum learning protocol is utilized to ensure robust feature extraction despite data scarcity. The proposed architecture achieves a state-of-the-art multi-subject F1-score of 95.7% $\pm$ 0.20% for a 10-class movement set, statistically outperforming both a standard Transformer with fixed encodings and a recurrent CNN-LSTM model. Architectural optimization reveals that a balanced allocation of model capacity between spatial and temporal dimensions yields the highest stability. Furthermore, while direct transfer to a new unseen subject led to poor accuracy due to domain shifts, a rapid calibration protocol utilizing only two trials per gesture recovered performance from 21.0% $\pm$ 2.98% to 96.9% $\pm$ 0.52%. By validating that high-fidelity temporal embeddings can compensate for low spatial resolution, this work challenges the necessity of high-density sensing. The proposed framework offers a robust, cost-effective blueprint for next-generation prosthetic interfaces capable of rapid personalization.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_01855
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Time2Vec Transformer for Robust Gesture Recognition from Low-Density sEMG
Hristov, Blagoj
Gjoreski, Hristijan
Latkoska, Vesna Ojleska
Nadzinski, Gorjan
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Signal Processing
Accurate and responsive myoelectric prosthesis control typically relies on complex, dense multi-sensor arrays, which limits consumer accessibility. This paper presents a novel, data-efficient deep learning framework designed to achieve precise and accurate control using minimal sensor hardware. Leveraging an external dataset of 8 subjects, our approach implements a hybrid Transformer optimized for sparse, two-channel surface electromyography (sEMG). Unlike standard architectures that use fixed positional encodings, we integrate Time2Vec learnable temporal embeddings to capture the stochastic temporal warping inherent in biological signals. Furthermore, we employ a normalized additive fusion strategy that aligns the latent distributions of spatial and temporal features, preventing the destructive interference common in standard implementations. A two-stage curriculum learning protocol is utilized to ensure robust feature extraction despite data scarcity. The proposed architecture achieves a state-of-the-art multi-subject F1-score of 95.7% $\pm$ 0.20% for a 10-class movement set, statistically outperforming both a standard Transformer with fixed encodings and a recurrent CNN-LSTM model. Architectural optimization reveals that a balanced allocation of model capacity between spatial and temporal dimensions yields the highest stability. Furthermore, while direct transfer to a new unseen subject led to poor accuracy due to domain shifts, a rapid calibration protocol utilizing only two trials per gesture recovered performance from 21.0% $\pm$ 2.98% to 96.9% $\pm$ 0.52%. By validating that high-fidelity temporal embeddings can compensate for low spatial resolution, this work challenges the necessity of high-density sensing. The proposed framework offers a robust, cost-effective blueprint for next-generation prosthetic interfaces capable of rapid personalization.
title Time2Vec Transformer for Robust Gesture Recognition from Low-Density sEMG
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Signal Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.01855