Tired of losing your remote, or having to use multiple remotes for multiple Apple devices? Well, the Mudra Band allows you to wirelessly wrangle all your iOS/Mac gadgets via a single gesture-control wristband on your Apple Watch.
Manufactured by mobile electronics company Wearable Devices, the Mudra Band was first unveiled in beta form two years ago. After being tested by thousands of early adopters, it's now available in medium and large sizes via the company website, priced at US$349.
The silicone-bodied device replaces the stock wristband on an existing Apple Watch. It's equipped with electronics such as a lithium-polymer battery, Bluetooth LE module, flexible printed circuit board, IMU (inertial measurement unit) and an array of surface nerve conductance (SNC) sensors.
In the split-second before the user makes a finger gesture, the SNC sensors detect the nerve signals that travel from the person's brain through their wrist to their fingers. Those distinctive signals – along with hand movement data from the IMU – are matched to specific gestures and movements which correspond to functions such as scrolling, clicking, zooming and dragging/dropping.
These commands are wirelessly transmitted via Bluetooth to a paired iPhone, iPad, AppleTV or Mac computer. Users can select between those devices by tapping on the screen of their Apple Watch, which is running the Mudra app.
You can see the Mudra Band in action, in the following video.
Source: Mudra Band
"Well, what if we required them to wave their hand vaguely, rather than point precisely; to tap their thumb and forefinger together, rather than click; and to pinch and move vaguely, rather than drag and drop precisely?"
"Oh, that's good. But I really feel like we could make it even harder..."
"I've got it! We could make people do all that with their non-dominant hand!"
"Gibson, you're a genius."
"Thanks, boss. But there's more: We'll charge them as much as Apple would for all that inconvenience."
"Gibson, I'm promoting you to VP of Marketing."