Touchscreens are accessible to a lot of people, but not to all. Those who suffer from physical and cognitive disabilities might even find these displays tough to use. And that's who Mudra Band hopes to help. This CES 2021 Innovation Award honoree uses the Mudra Band with the Apple Watch. It has a sensor that detects electrical signals sent by your brain to your fingers. Its deep-learning algorithm analyzes those impulses and maps them to a corresponding finger movement. Using Bluetooth LE, it then sends that information to your Apple Watch.
You can set the action that each movement triggers. Engadget gives examples of using your ring finger to activate Siri and your pinky to skip songs. It helps simplify your life, but as mentioned, the startup that developed the Mudra Band is improving its accessibility uses cases, too. Wearable Devices utilized this concept to help an IDF veteran whose injury left them with a heavily clenched fist the opportunity to learn to play the piano. The company said it is collaborating with US, Israel, and Japanese universities to develop these use cases.
If you want to use it yourself, Mudra Band is available for pre-order for US$179 ahead of its launch in March.
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