Before I get to Reemo, I’d like to set the context.
I really enjoyed Star Wars. I’m not a die-hard fan, but I really enjoyed it. I can quote much of the original movies more or less verbatim (I can tell you which movie features the line, “Your eyesight will return in time”).
So I have an appreciation for ‘the force’ and all that Jedi stuff.
And here’s the admission. Do you do the following? Almost every time I walk up to any automatic doors, I carefully judge where the sensor is pointing so I can place my right hand in front of me as I’m walking and then extend two fingers, together… still with me? I then wave the two fingers to the right just as the doors open. Woosh. I feel like a Jedi. And occasionally a young child standing nearby is momentarily impressed.
So when I came across Reemo, I had to write about it.
Firstly, it’s not a watch. It’s a mouse. Keep that in mind. The Reemo team describe it as a ‘wearable wrist mouse’. Combined with a base station and a few adapters, you can put on the Reemo band and control your house (office, or any appliance, basically) by just moving your wrist.
Flipping genius.
You can of course control computers too — think Tom Cruise in Minority Report, minus the gloves. You don’t need gloves, just wrist gestures.
Have a watch of the video:
Now, have a look at the GIF animation which shows how the system works:
There we go. You point at the appliance you want to control, make your gesture and the device responds accordingly. As you might imagine this would be perfect for those with limited mobility, not just folk who want to play jedi. (That’s actually where the original proposition began back in 2012.)
The Reemo team are crowdfunding their development on IndieGoGo at the moment. You can purchase a Reemo, a smart plug and receiver for $160 on IndieGoGo with delivery targeted around May 2015 (roughly 9 months time).
For British readers, it doesn’t look like there’s a British plug for Reemo yet but I’m sure they’ll knock one of those out later on. Reemo is compatible with the OpenHome standard and they’re also working hard to support other platforms too.
If Reemo has piqued your interest, I strongly recommend watching the company’s phenomenally well produced IndieGoGo video. In fact, after watching it, I felt compelled to give the team some fiscal support, even though there’s no British one to buy. I’ve added $10 to their IndieGoGo total.
Here’s the video:
Every success to the team at Reemo!