Macro Snap
A wearable gesture detection armband to control mobile macros
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About

Inspired by a need to perform quick, repetitive everyday tasks with your devices without redirecting your attention away from your surroundings. Our goal is to create a wearable armband that detects at least three distinct gestures which enables different phone macros.

Increase Daily Productivity

Perform frequently used mobile functions quickly via gestures without touching your phone. Our device is awakened via a finger snap allowing you to use both hands for tasks and trigger mobile macros on the go.

Interact With Phone in an Unobtrusive Manner

Our device allows the user to interact with their phone using gestures and provides haptic feedback which do not divert the user's visual attention.

Cheaper + Simpler Smartwatch Alternative

The estimated cost of our wearable device is $50 which is ~6x cheaper than a Apple watch. Our device operates simply via gestures and haptic feedback.

Product Specs

Macro Snap is a flexible and lightweight wearable gesture detection armband worn on the upper forearm and communicates with our Andriod app via Bluetooth only to execute mobile macros e.g. sending a text message, playing/pausing a song, taking a picture.

Mechanical

  • Add or remove connector modules to adjust for all forearm sizes
  • Sensor arrangement measures up to 10 unique gestures
  • Provides haptic feedback upon gesture detection and macro execution
  • Magnetic connections for snap-fit and easy assembly
  • UI button to trigger gesture calibration
  • Accessable battery compartment for quick replacement

Electrical

  • Replaceable CR2450 battery cell for up to 42h battery life
  • NRF52811 chip with Arm Cortex M4
  • Communicate via Bluetooth LE for extended battery life
  • Onboard IMU for additional positional data
  • Onboard microphone to record audio memos and voice notes
  • LED indicators present on all modules to guarantee correct assembly

Software

  • Wearable device pairs with MacroSnap Andriod app
  • Operates via Bluetooth only, does not require Wifi to function
  • Real-time on chip gesture detection and calibration
  • Snap your finger and perform a gesture to execute macro
  • View sensor data and other wearable device stats in our app
  • Choose from up to 10 unique gestures to map to 3 unique macros on your Andriod phone or device

The Team

Hi! We are a group of 4th year mechatronics engineering students at the University of Waterloo.

Kendra Tam

Mechanical Lead

Hello! I’m the mechanical lead and project manager of Macro Snap. I work on CADing the housing for the wearable and managing all the admin aspects of the project. I also heIp with implementing the Android app. After graduation I will be working full-time as a silicon engineer at Microsoft in the Bay Area. As you can see I’m a true mechatronics engineer and dabble in a little bit of mechanical, software, and computer engineering. A fun fact about me is that I can spin a laptop on my finger.

Aashmika Mali

Electrical Lead

Hey! As electrical lead, I am in charge of the electronics that go into Macro Snap. I will be starting a full-time position at Apple as an electrical engineer on the Home Products team in Cupertino after graduation. I love wearable devices and am excited to be a part of this awesome team in our mission to enable mobile device control in cumbersome situations! Outside from designing PCBs and testing components in the lab, I love to not be able to spin a laptop on my finger.

Anita Hu

Software Lead

Hi! As the software lead, I implement the gesture detection algorithm used in Macro Snap along with the Android app and this website. I’ll be working as a research scientist at Nvidia after graduation in the Toronto AI Lab. I am passionate about deep learning and its applications in computer vision and computer graphics. A fun fact about myself is that I will break laptops if I spin them.

Available on Github