{"id":818573,"date":"2025-01-09T22:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T04:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/09\/doublepoint-launches-free-apple-watch-app-to-control-devices-with-hand-gestures\/"},"modified":"2025-01-09T22:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T04:12:08","slug":"doublepoint-launches-free-apple-watch-app-to-control-devices-with-hand-gestures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/09\/doublepoint-launches-free-apple-watch-app-to-control-devices-with-hand-gestures\/","title":{"rendered":"Doublepoint launches free Apple Watch app to control devices with hand gestures"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Finnish startup Doublepoint<\/a> launched its free app, WowMouse, for the Apple Watch this week at CES 2025<\/a>. The app uses the wearable\u2019s sensors, compass, and accelerometer to turn your hand into a mouse that can control devices through hand gestures.<\/p>\n

The Apple Watch already uses a similar technology for the double tap feature it released in 2023<\/a>. The watch detects micro-movements in your wrist when you tap your thumb and index finger together, and registers it as a click on your device.<\/p>\n

Controlling a Mac<\/span>Image Credits:<\/strong>Maxwell Zeff<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Doublepoint does this too, but it also goes a step further. WowMouse allows you to point your hand at your Mac and control the cursor on your computer\u2019s screen using a companion app. The startup plans to expand to Bluetooth-enabled devices as well, allowing you to control smart lights with a point.<\/p>\n

The chief technology officer of Doublepoint, Jamin Hu, put an Apple Watch on my right hand and asked me to point at a floor lamp across the room. I did, and the lamp started to glow. I tapped my thumb and index finger together, and the light turned off, but when I rotated my palm towards the ceiling, the light grew brighter.<\/p>\n

Controlling lights (credit: Maxwell Zeff)<\/span>Image Credits:<\/strong>Maxwell Zeff<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019d usually have to take out my phone, open an app, and flick on the smart lights in my house one by one. But with Doublepoint\u2019s app, I could control my smart home devices with the wave of a hand. Hu notes there will be an initial setup phase to show the app where the lights are in your house. But after that, WowMouse will be able to tell which devices you\u2019re pointing at.<\/p>\n

The magic behind Doublepoint\u2019s technology comes down to a deep neural network trained on a very large, custom dataset of hand gestures. Everyone\u2019s finger tap and hand gestures look a little bit different, but this large dataset allows Doublepoint\u2019s underlying model to understand the user\u2019s intent.<\/p>\n

Indeed, 100,000 people have already downloaded the WowMouse app on the Google Play Store, which Doublepoint launched at last year\u2019s CES<\/a>. On Sunday, the company expanded onto Apple\u2019s App Store and has already picked up a few thousand users.<\/p>\n

the wowmouse app on Apple Watch.<\/span>Image Credits:<\/strong>Doublepoint<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Big tech companies and hardware startups are building smart glasses that use voice as an interface, but these devices still need some kind of handheld component. The Orion AR glasses that Meta demoed in September use an EMG wristband that lets users scroll and click buttons while wearing the smart glasses.<\/p>\n

Doublepoint CEO Ohto Pentik\u00e4inen says this technology could work with smart glasses in a similar way, but using the sensors that already exist inside popular watches.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2020, Doublepoint initially made its own hardware. A few years ago, the company pivoted to making software that works with off the shelf smart watches, such as ones from Apple and Google. So far, Doublepoint has raised $6.5 million, partly from the government of Finland, and it expects to close another funding round in 2025.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Doublepoint would like to license its technology to smart watch makers. While its WowMouse app has garnered a dedicated following, creating an interface technology in someone else\u2019s closed ecosystem can be limiting. <\/p>\n

For example, if you want to use WowMouse to control your computer and your TV, you\u2019d have to disconnect WowMouse from one device and reconnect it to another. After trying out WowMouse, you can imagine how seamless Doublepoint\u2019s technology would be if it wasn\u2019t operating in someone else\u2019s walled garden. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n\t\tMaxwell Zeff is a senior reporter at TechCrunch specializing in AI and emerging technologies. Previously with Gizmodo, Bloomberg, and MSNBC, Zeff has covered the rise of AI and the Silicon Valley Bank crisis. He is based in San Francisco. When not reporting, he can be found hiking, biking, and exploring the Bay Area\u2019s food scene.\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\tView Bio <\/svg><\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n Maxwell Zeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finnish startup Doublepoint launched its free app, WowMouse, for the Apple Watch this week at CES 2025. The app uses the wearable\u2019s sensors, compass, and accelerometer to turn your hand into a mouse that can control devices through hand gestures. The Apple Watch already uses a similar technology for the double tap feature it released<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":818574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131379,2432,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-818573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-doublepoint","category-launches","category-technology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=818573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}