Former Meta employees launch a ring to take voice notes and control music

A raft of voice-based hardware devices have emerged, aimed at companionship, productivity or personal growth. This includes card-shaped devices plod And pocket; pendant from friend, unlimitedAnd toy; and a wristband from the beewhich is now part of Amazon.

Now, two former Meta employees working on interface design have launched SandbarA startup that has created a ring called Stream for the same purpose The company calls the Ring “a mouse for voice” because it can take notes, help you communicate with AI assistants, and let you control music.

Sandbar’s CEO, Mina Fahmy, has an extensive background in designing human-computer interfaces. He worked at Brian Johnson’s Kernel and later at smart glasses startup Magic Leap. Kirak Hong, Sandbar’s CTO, worked at Google before joining CTRL-Labs, where the two met. meta Acquired startups in 2019, and its work eventually led to the tech giant’s neural interface for smart wearables.

Fahmy said that a few years ago when big language models started to emerge, he created an experimental journaling app. However, he found that the app itself became a hindrance to capturing his thoughts. Because of his experience building hardware interfaces, he began exploring a conversational hardware interface instead.

“A lot of my ideas bubble up when I’m walking or commuting, and I don’t want to pull out my phone to interrupt that moment. I don’t want to scream into my earbuds where the world will hear me talking through an idea. Kirak and I were trying to figure out what it would really take to capture an idea,” we bubbled up at that point. In an interview with TechCrunch.

Designed to be worn on the index finger of your dominant hand, the ring features a microphone and a touch pad.

In a virtual demo, Fahmi wore the Stream ring on his index finger and recorded his thoughts by pressing and holding the touchpad. By default, the microphone is off, activated only by this gesture The microphone proved sensitive enough to pick up whispers and replicate them in the companion iOS app. Other apps like Wispro Flow and Willow similarly allow people to quietly capture their thoughts.

Stream’s app has an AI chatbot that converses with you while recording your thoughts. You can organize them into separate notes that you or the AI ​​can edit The app lets you zoom out and review what you’ve discussed over the course of days or weeks. Sandbar adds a personalization layer to make the assistant’s voice sound a bit like the user.

Fahmy says that in crowded places, users can wear headphones to talk privately with the assistant. Without headphones, the Ring provides haptic feedback when it successfully registers a note, letting you add to-dos, take notes or quietly check items off a grocery list.

In addition to the voice function, the ring’s flat surface doubles as a media controller, allowing you to play, pause, skip tracks, and adjust volume. While many headphones offer similar controls, the Ring can be useful when you have your hands occupied or when you’re in transit.

The company is opening pre-orders for the Stream on Wednesday at $249 for the silver version and $299 for the gold. Sandbar aims to start shipping next summer. A Pro membership level — free for three months for those who preorder, then $10 per month — offers unlimited chat, notes and early access to new features.

Fahmy said the company gives users full control over their data at any level, including encryption both at rest and in transit. He added that Sandbar doesn’t believe in walled gardens and plans to support data export to apps like Idea.

Sandbar has raised $13 million in funding from True Ventures, Upfront Ventures and Betaworks.

Tony Snyder, a partner at True Ventures, said he was skeptical of the AI ​​device, because the demos he saw before Stream weren’t impressive.

“I think a lot of people would agree that voice and AI go very well together. And [they also agree] Having a phone or even a laptop to interact with AI is kind of a lot when all you need is voice. So there should be some new form factors out there. We’ve looked at many of them, and many of them haven’t quite hit the mark. When Mina came and showed us the demo, it made sense to us,” he told TechCrunch.

Competition in the voice-AI hardware space is intense, with many manufacturers combining the rings form factor. Fahmy said he didn’t want Stream to be an assistant or a companion, but rather an interface for users to express their ideas while maintaining full control.

AI hardware has yet to achieve mainstream success. humane sale At HP, Rabbit is striving to improve user experience and engagement through Software updatesAnd the friend is trying to leverage the user response Fueled by growth, Sandbar needs to prove that its ring form factor offers real benefits and value that pendants, pins or wristbands cannot.