With the rise of voice assistants and smart devices, more people are looking for convenient tools to record ideas, control music, and interact with AI. Recently, former Meta employees co-founded a startup called Sandbar, which has launched an intelligent ring called Stream. This ring, dubbed a "voice mouse," is designed to help users capture inspiration and manage daily tasks anytime, anywhere.
The CEO of Sandbar, Mina Fahmi, and the Chief Technology Officer, Kirak Hong, both have strong technical backgrounds and have worked in several well-known tech companies. They mentioned that the inspiration for Stream came from Mina's exploration of portable recording tools. While using large language models, Mina found that traditional mobile apps often became obstacles to recording thoughts. They hope to create a hardware interface that allows users to record sudden ideas without needing to take out their phones or speak loudly in public places.
The Stream smart ring is elegantly designed, worn on the index finger of the dominant hand, and features a sensitive microphone and a touch panel. During a virtual demonstration, Mina showed how to record by pressing the touch panel, which activates the microphone at that time, ensuring users can quietly record their thoughts, greatly protecting their privacy. Users can interact with an AI chatbot through the accompanying iOS app, and the recorded content can be organized into different notes, which can be edited by the user or assisted by AI.
Aside from recording voice, the touch panel of Stream can also act as a music controller, allowing users to easily play, pause, skip songs, or adjust the volume, making it very convenient for use when hands are occupied or while moving. In addition, Stream provides users with data control, ensuring that data is encrypted during transmission and storage, and supports exporting data to other applications like Notion.
Sandbar is currently accepting pre-orders for Stream. The silver version is priced at $249, and the gold version at $299, with expected shipping in the summer of next year. Additionally, pre-order customers will enjoy a three-month free trial of Pro subscription, after which it will cost $10 per month, offering unlimited chatting, notes, and priority access to new features.
In the current competitive market for voice AI hardware, Sandbar hopes to provide users with a convenient expression tool through the unique ring form of Stream, rather than just a simple assistant.
