This week at CES 2025, Finnish startup Doublepoint unveiled WowMouse, a free application for the Apple Watch. This innovative app utilizes the watch’s sensors, compass, and accelerometer to transform your hand into a cursor, enabling device control through simple hand gestures.
The Apple Watch has previously implemented a similar feature with its double-tap function, introduced in 2023. This capability detects subtle wrist movements when you bring your thumb and index finger together, interpreting it as a click on the device.
Doublepoint takes this concept further. WowMouse allows users to point at their Mac and manipulate the cursor on the screen via a companion app. The company intends to broaden its functionality to include Bluetooth-enabled gadgets, allowing users to control smart lighting just by pointing.
Doublepoint’s CTO, Jamin Hu, demonstrated the technology by placing an Apple Watch on my right wrist and instructing me to point at a lamp across the room. Upon doing so, the lamp lit up. When I tapped my thumb and index finger, the light turned off, and when I tilted my palm upwards, the brightness intensified.
Typically, I would have to pull out my phone, launch an app, and activate each smart light individually. However, with Doublepoint’s app, I could control my smart home devices with mere hand movements. Hu mentioned that an initial setup phase is necessary to inform the app of the light locations in your home, but afterward, WowMouse will accurately identify the devices you are indicating.
The success of Doublepoint’s technology stems from a deep neural network trained on a vast, tailored dataset of hand gestures. Since individual finger taps and hand movements can vary, this extensive dataset helps the model accurately interpret user intent.
Notably, WowMouse has already attracted 100,000 downloads on the Google Play Store since its launch at last year’s CES. The app made its debut on Apple’s App Store on Sunday, rapidly gaining a few thousand users.
While major tech firms and hardware startups are developing smart glasses that rely on voice interaction, these solutions often necessitate some form of handheld device. For instance, Meta showcased its Orion AR glasses in September, which require an EMG wristband to enable scrolling and button pressing while wearing the glasses.
According to Doublepoint CEO Ohto Pentikäinen, their technology could similarly integrate with smart glasses by leveraging existing watch sensors.
Established in 2020, Doublepoint first ventured into hardware before shifting focus to software designed for widely used smart watches, including those from Apple and Google. So far, the company has raised $6.5 million, with support from the Finnish government, and anticipates completing another funding round in 2025.
In the long run, Doublepoint aims to license its technology to smartwatch manufacturers. Although the WowMouse app has cultivated a loyal user base, developing an interface technology within someone else’s ecosystem can pose challenges.
For instance, if you intend to utilize WowMouse to manage your computer and TV, you would need to disconnect it from one device and reconnect to another. After experiencing WowMouse, it’s easy to envision how seamless Doublepoint’s technology could perform if it weren’t confined to another company’s limited ecosystem.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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