Tap Strap 2 - Wearable Keyboard, Mouse & Air Gesture Controller (Large-2021)

I got my TAP Strap 2 in today and started with the tutorials. I was surprised how fast I started to pick up the 'taps'. I worked through the first couple sets quickly, the tutorial/practice allows you to repeat the practice sessions as often as you like. It rates you by 1,2 or 3 stars, based on your aptitude. I repeated the ones I had only 2 stars on and others that I didn't feel comfortable with. Each practice set incorporates some of the letters from the previous one and you 'earn' special characters when you show more proficiency on a set, so you get period, space, comma, and start learning those regularly used characters very quickly. For anyone concerned about the size, I did find in one of the Q&A a tip to fold a dollar bill in half and if your hand width was smaller than the bill to get the small version. I had measured the width and thought I was right at the 3" mark, so I couldn't make up my mind. When I tried the dollar trick, I decided to go with the small size and it's just right. There is room for me to loosen the strap if I need to. I think the large would have been too big. I was having a little trouble with certain letters at first. I think I was holding my fingers too close together. I found that by spreading them out a bit more, for letters like C, I was able to get a clear tap. I am definitely using the shortcuts for v, and j. Can't make up my mind about z LOL. I'm looking forward to continuing the tutorial and at least getting the rest of the alphabet so I can start working on speed. Oh, I started practicing on my computer, then paired my iPad and did the air tutorial. The left click is giving me some trouble, I don't think I'm keeping my hand in the right position. Not sure I'll use the swiping feature much, as I was more interested in the typing without a keyboard for the iPad. So far, 5 stars. I'll try to update my progress.

I was very excited to get my hands on the tap strap 2, but every step of the process is riddled with unreliable apps, annoying settings, and ergonomics that are out performed by an Adzerd Smart Ring for 20 bucks. Starting with the app, the app is by far the worst part of this experience as it disconnects frequently, and once disconnected you must either completely clear the app data from your device or you uninstall and reinstall it to reestablish connection. And you NEED the app to change your settings, which are also compromised. The settings allow you to configure multiple presets and switch between them witch is nice as it is just a wearable keyboard and mouse on your hands. But the device is soo sensitive that inputs will execute accidentally frequently. This can be mitigated by setting all commands to 2 - 3 taps, but not only can the switch commands not be switched as they are locked by the manufacturer, but they are also 1 tap. Meaning you might accidentally switch your settings and have to constantly try to set them back to your custom configuration. Ultimately i expected this device to allow me to multitask and execute commands while my hands are occupied, but if you don't have a stable surface to tap or something in your hand, the tap accuracy significantly drops, and you won't be able to instinctively operate this device without having to troubleshoot every time you use it. Again the Adzerd ring is what i wanted this device to replace. Its accurate, doesn't need an app or presets, doesn't need a specific surface to operate and can be used even while typing. I'm turning my music on and scrolling through tiktok as i type this, yea good luck doing that with the tap strap 2. Also the mouse feature is clunky and annoying to use too, but of course it is lol.

I'll start with a quick positive, this is the most portable keyboard and mouse you can find. This is not an air keyboard by any means which I still somehow thought after watching a few videos, that's on me. This dramatically ruins the AR experience. You need a hard flat surface like a desk to use this on. If you're going to have a surface you might as well have a keyboard and mouse in most cases. If you had only one usable hand (or needed to free up one) this might be neat. That's the only circumstance I can see. However, you'd still likely be better off with a keyboard and mouse operated with one hand, even switching between the two...unless you're mobile! (You'll still need to find a surface to tap on) I don't often use my phone with still fixed ergononical surfaces, so it's useless there; and I always use my computers with still surfaces, where there are far more positives to a keyboard and mouse. The air mouse is impossible to use, as to click you move your wrist which is also how you move the pointer. The surface mouse is pretty cool, but requires more cooridination than a regular mouse, as your thumb indepentdantly is the x,y input. Your cursor/thumb is prone to move (not unlike in air mouse mode) when you move any of your other fingers to click, as your hand is all well connected together, unless you keep consistent pressure down on your thumb. This get tiring quickly, unlike a mouse meant to let your hand rest precisely a-top, not moving when you lift your hand or click a button. If you could disengage the mouse movement from your hand before clicking with an extra gesture it might work, but then you've gotta do multiple gesture to click once... Still works alright as a one handed keyboard once you learn it, with surprising accuracy (still less convenient then typing with one hand with fixed position hard keys if you can have space for a keyboard.) Other than for fun, there's just no real point in learning a less accurate, slower, less convenient device. It's a step in the right direction, but there's a few miles to go. Inputs devices can only be made better with consistency/accuracy#1, memorability/speed#2, ergonmics#3, features#4(extra function(fn) or macro buttons),Style#5 This device hits misses #1 Might actually win number #2 if I spent enough time (as I already know how to type, comparitively) Is uncomfortable after short term use so likely missing #3 for most people (experience may vary) #4 Has a world of possiblities if they provision the right type of macro software with a slick interace, not fully applicable yet #5 Looks Awesome, you could wear this around anywhere in this day and age and it would inspire only curiosity, it's very exciting product. (too bad it doesnt work just anywhere you want i.e. walking, at least just yet)

I'm a lifelong wearable computing enthusiast, and I'm old enough that most of my life the outlook has been bleak. This device is amazing...ly close to being usable. I'm a moron, and I was able to memorize the alphabet using their great tutorials and mnemonics in just a few days of 15-minute sessions. And then I ran into the wall, because this device cannot be used as a keyboard. If you double tap e, it inputs e, backspace, exclamation mark. If I am using a program that's not a word processor, which treats e, backspace, and exclamation as different commands, this will severely mess things up and be fundamentally unusable. I'm not smart enough, nor interested in trying to memorize a new set of taps for every single program, and even so, that doesn't solve the issue. And without double-tap and triple-tap working as they should, you don't have enough chords for the entire keyboard. The developers have been repeatedly told of this problem for literally years, and they just ignore it, claim it must work this way. If you don't like it, they say, disable double-taps and then you have a device that also isnt' a keyboard, because it hasn't even got most of the characters available. Can you imagine if your mouse had to perform the single-click action on every double-click? It wouldn't be useable except in EXTREMELY limited circumstances. This device is exactly that. If you imagine yourself using this to type in a word processor or messaging app AND NOTHING ELSE you'll love it. It's super cool and it's actually fun to type on. It makes me so sad that I can't make it my daily use keyboard because it's just ... not one, and the devs could fix it with one very tiny optional setting they steadfastly refuse to add, for *years.* Honestly. I'm only writing this because I'm super sad at what a useless device it is, and how much potential is just squandered.

The mouse is amazing. 1- I can hold it anyway I like, only constrained by the mouse rest. I found the pictured position to be the most comfortable. 2- It switches seamlessly and quickly between mouse and keyboard mode, so I am not resting my arm in a static strain state. These two factors have led to the most ergonomic mousing I've ever experienced. My hand actually feels better after an hour of use. It's similar to the feeling one gets right after weight training. I've only had the device for a few days, so I cannot fairly assess the keyboard. It's promising so far: I have reached 15 WPM within 2 days, which is way faster than Mavis Beacon could imprint QWERTY on my plastic 8 yo brain. It doesn't seem to interfere with my regular typing muscle memory either, since the contexts are so different. I typically type at 80 WPM, and I saw people on youtube pushing 70 WPM on this device, so I am optimistic about this device eventually replacing my mouse and keyboard. It's already replaced my trusty Logitech MMO mouse as I could get all my hotkeys and shortcuts mapped on the tap strap. Some feedback/requests for the next-gen: - A hard reboot function (e.g. long-press the thumb button). I froze the device once (my fault; I messed with the tap mapping) and had to wait for the battery to die down to perform a power cycle. - A windows version of the TapManager tool. I use the device for my computer, and I have to pair it with my iPhone every time I want to change the settings. - An all-black version. The silver centerpieces on the rings look a bit tacky to me - A sleeve accessory for the charger/case - Decouple ring tightening from adjusting the slack between rings. Currently, I have to do 10-15 seconds of adjustment to find the sweet spot. Not the end of the world, but it would be nice if I can wear it and jump right into using it. In summary, great idea, well-designed hardware and UX, and excellent support from the team. I'm looking forward to relying on this completely once I hit 40+ WPM.

I so wanted to love this product - I bought it to help alleviate repetitive stress in my wrist and reduce shoulder strain. The product is well-made, well-presented, and has thoughtful craftsmanship. However, the air mouse function which is the primary function I bought it for, just isn’t there yet - it is inaccurate and quirky. The hepatic is terribly sensitive, and activates/deactivates functions at inappropriate times - often in the middle of a normal mousing task like scrolling - this happens consistently using the air mouse function. Using the mouse-on-hard-surface is rather awkward as it requires a significant flat space to mouse accurately - definitely not useful trying to use one’s leg, sofa arm, or other small flat space. On the positive side, I loved the tapping concept for typing- it was easy to master - though that had some accuracy complications as well - it didn’t always recognize the difference between common finger combinations like ‘space’ vs. ‘delete’, which was problematic. Sadly, because of these issues I had to return the Tap strap 2 - but I eagerly await the next generation of the product!

This is a great idea. Standard keyboards are ill-designed for the modern environment where most computing is not done at a desk. This is probably the most promising replacement I've seen to date. However, if you buy this item, you're buying something about two-steps removed from the prototype. Think early 90's cell phone. Hopefully, this will turn into an iPhone 12 or S20 one day, but it's still got a ways to go. Some thoughts: - The apps are good for learning how to type(gesture?). - It does seem to work well on a leg or the arm of a chair or any available surface. - The device is still much larger and clunkier than the final version will likely end up. - The cloth rope between the rings makes putting on the device difficult and cumbersome. - They wildly overestimate the ability to move your middle and pinkie fingers without moving your ring finger - While typing text is great and a more mobile option is definitely needed for that purpose, gamers are probably the key to more widespread adoption. I gave five stars, because I think it performs great for a new idea. That said, it's not yet something I would carry around and use with my tablet or cell phone, which I think is the intention. If it was the Tap Strap 5 or Tap Strap 8, it would probably be two star review. I am excited to see how this concept evolves.

This amazing gadget is more than what you think I am a product tester at a large company, so I see a lot of technology. I was always curious about Tap, and finally got to try one recently which convinced me to buy it. In terms of the product itself; wearing it is very comfortable. They have TPU coating and adjustable nylon cording that allows you to adjust the rings to match your finger size. It’s comfortable to wear all day and does not inhibit my ability to move my fingers freely. For those worried about accidentally activating the Tap, you can turn it on and off or put it into a standby mode with simple combinations. The charging case is also super sleek. It’s magnetized so the Tap stays saddled, even if you toss it into your backpack or bag. It charges quickly (~1.4 hours) via pogo pins - similar to AirPods. The learning system is magnificent. It really does make the process fun and fast. After about 2 hours I had the entire keyboard down. After you learn they have another game that helps you pick up speed. Both apps are really fun. As for using my Tap, I originally limited myself to just a keyboard replacement, but now that I have been working with Tap for a few weeks, I am really expanding what can be don’t with it. For example, I can swap from typing in a Word Doc to Maya with a Tap command, activate the air mouse and start drawing in 3 dimensions. And this can be done with or without a desk. It’s pretty amazing what can be done with this nifty little gadget.