What is this?
Kinesis is a native macOS app that lets you control your Mac using gestures from the Meta Neural Band (an EMG wristband): swipe between desktops, open Mission Control, control music, and pinch+turn for volume or brightness.
Kinesis is a native macOS app that lets you control your Mac using gestures from the Meta Neural Band (an EMG wristband): swipe between desktops, open Mission Control, control music, and pinch+turn for volume or brightness.Is this a menu bar app or something that runs in the background invisibly?It's a menu bar app: you set up your gesture mappings and practice them once, then it lives in the menu bar.
It's a menu bar app: you set up your gesture mappings and practice them once, then it lives in the menu bar.How do I get it running?Download the dmg, drag it into Applications, put your band in pairing mode, hit 'pair band', sign in with Meta once, allow Bluetooth and Accessibility, then enable controls.
Download the dmg, drag it into Applications, put your band in pairing mode, hit 'pair band', sign in with Meta once, allow Bluetooth and Accessibility, then enable controls.What hardware do I need besides a Mac?You need a Meta Neural Band and macOS 14 or later; it runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
You need a Meta Neural Band and macOS 14 or later; it runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.Does everything work reliably?No, the author calls it 'highly experimental' and notes some gestures or features may act quirky or not work at all.
No, the author calls it 'highly experimental' and notes some gestures or features may act quirky or not work at all.Does it need Apple Silicon, or does it work on Intel Macs too?It works on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, as long as you're running macOS 14 or newer.
It works on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, as long as you're running macOS 14 or newer.Why does signing in with Meta happen, and what does it access?Meta enrolls the band to an owner, so Kinesis does the same enrollment for your Mac by opening Meta's sign-in page once and storing a session token in your keychain; it only gets that token, never your password, and 'forget this band' clears it.
Meta enrolls the band to an owner, so Kinesis does the same enrollment for your Mac by opening Meta's sign-in page once and storing a session token in your keychain; it only gets that token, never your password, and 'forget this band' clears it.Do I need to re-authenticate with Meta every time I connect the band?No, once the band is enrolled, connecting afterward doesn't require Meta sign-in again; only the initial enrollment needs it.
No, once the band is enrolled, connecting afterward doesn't require Meta sign-in again; only the initial enrollment needs it.Where did this project come from?It grew out of the author's earlier tinkering in a repo called 'neural-band-poc' with 'astra', which they then built into this more useful Mac control app.
It grew out of the author's earlier tinkering in a repo called 'neural-band-poc' with 'astra', which they then built into this more useful Mac control app.What should I do before pairing the band for the first time?Factory reset the band by holding its button for about 16 seconds, and if the Mac was paired before, forget it under System Settings › Bluetooth to avoid pairing issues.
Factory reset the band by holding its button for about 16 seconds, and if the Mac was paired before, forget it under System Settings › Bluetooth to avoid pairing issues.What are similar projects?mactap-app, Sapphire, textream, OpenYoink, macos-sysdata, Insomnia, rooms, tendedero
mactap-app, Sapphire, textream, OpenYoink, macos-sysdata, Insomnia, rooms, tendederoWhich topics is it in?gesture-control, bluetooth, menu-bar, xcode, native, accessibility, apple, macos-app, hardware, apple-silicon, swift, utility
gesture-control, bluetooth, menu-bar, xcode, native, accessibility, apple, macos-app, hardware, apple-silicon, swift, utility