Meta’s New Wristband Can (Almost) Read Your Mind
Published On: July 24, 2025
Meta has officially unveiled a new prototype wristband that lets users control computers with simple hand gestures, or even just the intent to move. The device, which looks like a thick rectangular watch, uses muscle activity in the forearm to turn subtle movements and mental intentions into digital commands.
Notably, it picks up signals before your muscles even move. “You don’t have to actually move,” said Thomas Reardon, Meta’s VP of research and former co-founder of Ctrl Labs. “You just have to intend the move.”
What the wristband can do
By reading motor nerve signals from your arm, the device lets you:
- Move a cursor by rotating your wrist
- Tap your thumb to your finger to open an app
- Write letters in the air and have them appear on your phone
- Type without using a keyboard, just by mimicking the motion of writing
This kind of control could be the first step toward the kind of gesture-based interfaces we’ve only seen in sci-fi films, think holograms you swipe through midair or virtual objects you sculpt with your hands. While Meta’s wristband doesn’t project visuals into space, it lays the groundwork for a future where users interact with digital environments without touching a screen or holding a controller.
Meta is working with Carnegie Mellon University to test the wristband on people with spinal cord injuries. Even those with full hand paralysis often retain some muscle activity, allowing the device to interpret their intentions and translate them into digital actions.
Meta’s approach is simple: no surgery, no invasive procedures. Just strap it on, train a few gestures, and go. It also shows potential for more than just replacing the mouse or keyboard. With time, users might be able to control drones, manipulate virtual objects in AR, or even develop new types of digital interactions that don’t exist yet.
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