Former Meta Employees Launch AI-Powered Stream Ring for Voice Note-Taking

Former Meta employees launch a ring to take voice notes and control music | TechCrunch

Now, two former Meta employees who worked on interface design have launched Sandbar, a startup that has created a ring called Stream for similar purposes. The company calls the ring "a mouse for voice" because it can take notes, help you interact with an AI assistant, and also let you control music. Sandbar's CEO, Mina Fahmi, has an extensive background in designing human-computer interfaces. He worked at Bryan Johnson's Kernel and later at smart glasses startup Magic Leap. Kirak Hong, Sandbar's CTO, worked at Google before joining CTRL-Labs, where the duo met. Meta acquired the startup in 2019, and its work eventually led to neural interfaces for the tech giant's smart wearables. Fahmi said that when large language models started emerging a few years ago, he built an experimental journaling app. However, he found that the app itself became a barrier to capturing his thoughts. Given his experience building hardware interfaces, he began exploring a conversational hardware interface instead. "A lot of my ideas bubble up when I'm walking or when I'm commuting, and I don't want to pull out my phone to interrupt that moment. I don't want to shout into my earbuds where the world can hear me to talk through an idea. Kirak and I were trying to understand what it would take to actually capture a thought the moment it bubbles up. That's how we came up with Stream," Fahmi told TechCrunch in an interview. The ring, designed to be worn on your dominant hand's index finger, has microphones and a touch pad. In a virtual demo, Fahmi wore the Stream ring on his index finger and recorded his thoughts by pressing and holding the touchpad. By default, the microphone is off, activating only with this gesture. The microphone proved sensitive enough to pick up whispers and transcribe them in the companion iOS app. Other apps like Wispr Flow and Willow similarly allow people to capture their thoughts quietly. Stream's app includes an AI chatbot that converses with you as you record your thoughts. You can organize these into separate notes that either you or the AI can edit. The app also lets you pinch to zoom out and review what you have discussed over days or weeks. Sandbar has added a personalization layer so the assistant's voice sounds somewhat similar to the user's. Fahmi said that in crowded spaces, users can wear headphones to converse privately with the assistant. Without headphones, the ring provides haptic feedback when it successfully registers a note, allowing you to add to-dos, take notes, or check items off a grocery list quietly. Beyond voice functions, the ring's flat surface doubles as a media controller, allowing you to play, pause, skip tracks and adjust volume. While many headphones offer similar controls, the ring could prove useful when your hands are occupied or you're in transit. The company is opening up pre-orders for Stream on Wednesday at $249 for the silver version and $299 for gold. Sandbar aims to begin shipping next summer. A Pro subscription tier -- free for three months for those who preorder, then $10 per month -- offers unlimited chats, notes, and early access to new features. Fahmi said the company gives users full control over their data at any tier, with encryption both at rest and in transit. He added that Sandbar doesn't believe in walled gardens and plans to support data exports to apps like Notion. Sandbar has raised $13 million in funding from True Ventures, Upfront Ventures, and Betaworks. Toni Schneider, a partner at True Ventures, said he had been skeptical of AI devices, as demos he'd seen before Stream weren't impressive. "I think a lot of people would agree that voice and AI go really well together. And [they also agree] that having a phone or even a laptop to interact with AI is kind of a lot when all you need is voice. So there should be some kind of new form factor out there. We looked at a lot of them, and a lot of them just didn't quite hit the target. When Mina came in and showed us the demo, it made sense to us," he told TechCrunch. Competition is fierce in the voice-AI hardware space, with many builders exploring rings as a form factor. Fahmi said he doesn't want Stream to be an assistant or a companion, but rather an interface for users to express their ideas while maintaining full control. AI hardware has yet to achieve mainstream success. Humane sold to HP, Rabbit is attempting to improve user experience and engagement through software updates, and Friend is trying to leverage user backlash to fuel growth. Sandbar will need to prove that its ring form factor offers genuine convenience and value that pendants, pins, or wristbands cannot.

Whisper Into This AI-Powered Smart Ring to Organize Your Thoughts

Everyone has an inner monologue. When you're commuting on the train, riding a bike, or in the shower, chances are you're thinking about the day ahead, tasks you need to do, or maybe just mulling over a conversation you had the night before. Much of this stays in our brains, soon to be forgotten or pushed away when the train comes to the station. But what if you could have it all subtly recorded in one place, ready for you to digest later on? That's what a new company called Sandbar envisions for Stream Ring, an AI-powered smart ring. The company emerged out of stealth today after two years of development, led by cofounders Mina Fahmi and Kirak Hong. Both previously worked at CTRL-Labs and later at Meta when Mark Zuckerberg's company acquired the neural interface startup. It has raised $13 million in venture funding. The hardware is Stream Ring, a smart ring you wear on your index finger. Raise your hand and talk into the ring, and you can even whisper into it in crowded areas if you don't want others to hear. It doesn't save any audio of your interactions with the ring; instead, much like many of the AI-powered wearables in the market right now, it transcribes your words into text, which you can access in the Stream app. "We think of this as the mouse for voice because it solves a lot of the challenges of a voice interaction at once," Fahmi tells me in a nondescript office space in Manhattan. "We mostly imagine it phone away, earbuds in -- this allows you to interact immediately with no wake word." There's a capacitive sensor on the flat edge of the ring, and a tap-and-hold lets you record your thoughts without being interrupted by an AI assistant. If the assistant responds to you, a simple tap on the sensor will cut it off. The hardware will be waterproof at launch, so you won't have to worry about using it in the rain or on sweaty days. The Stream also doubles as a media controller, meaning you can tap it once to play or pause music, double-tap for the next track, or swipe for volume control. If, for some reason, Sandbar goes under and its AI backend goes offline, at least you're left with a very expensive media controller, rather than hardware that quickly turns into electronic waste. At present, there are no health-tracking features like those on most smart rings today.

With This Ring, AI Could Capture Your Impromptu Thoughts

Connor is a technology writer and editor, with a byline on multiple platforms. He has been writing for around nine years now across the web and in print too. Connor has attended the biggest tech expos, including CES, MWC, and IFA -- with contributions as a judge on panels at them. He's also been interviewed as a technology expert on TV and radio by national news outlets including France24. Connor has experience with most major platforms, though does hold a place in his heart for macOS, iOS/iPadOS, electric vehicles, and smartphone tech. Just like everyone else around here, he's a fan of gadgets of all sorts. Aside from writing, Connor is involved in the startup and venture capital scene, which puts him at the front of new and exciting tech -- he is always on the lookout for innovative products. You're driving in your car and out of nowhere you have a brainstorm for the big presentation you need to make tomorrow. For good reasons, you can't pull out your phone. Instead, you raise your hand, touch your index finger and quietly speak into your palm. Brainstorm preserved. That's the convenience promised by the Stream Ring, a new wearable coming next year from a company called Sandbar. It functions like a private notetaker that lives on your hand. Thoughts arrive unpredictably, often at inconvenient moments, right? Rather than fumbling for a notes app or dictating loudly in public, this low-profile ring is designed to let you whisper to store ideas in a private conversational interface. Smart rings are usually used for health tracking, sleep metrics or notifications. Oura popularized the idea for sleep and wellness tracking. Voice AI gadgets are emerging in parallel, including recorders like Plaud AI. The Stream Ring is a hybrid of both product types -- essentially, it's a microphone you wear like jewelry. Gadget-minded consumers will have to find a balance that suits them between convenience and intrusiveness. The Stream Ring does make use of artificial intelligence, but it's different from conversational AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, not least in avoiding their tendency toward sycophancy. Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source. Sandbar is positioning the Stream Ring as an augmentation tool instead of another AI assistant that tries to do your thinking for you. The focus is cognitive extension and quiet mental clarity rather than companionship or automation. Stream consists of a ring and a companion app on your phone. The idea is to wear the ring on your dominant index finger, raise your hand slightly when inspiration strikes, press the tiny touchpad and speak softly. Sandbar says that the ring is not always listening -- haptics confirm when the microphone is active -- and picks up sounds only within a "personal range." Everything routes to the Stream app on an iPhone (the app will be available only on iOS). When you speak, Stream creates notes inside the app. Sandbar says those notes live in a "conversational interface," meaning you can both read the notes and listen to them like voice memos. This gives you an opportunity to review and expand ideas as if you were talking through them. The AI component focuses on transcription and conversational organization. The Stream Ring's setup also includes a personalized digital voice -- dubbed Inner Voice -- that mirrors your own sound and speaking style when reading notes aloud. Sandbar says the experience feels like talking to yourself rather than conversing with a chatbot. Sandbar describes this approach as expanding your own thinking instead of replacing it. Contrast that with other companies pitching AI gadgets as virtual companions. CNET's Scott Stein, an expert in smart glasses and other wearable, AI-infused tech, got an early demo from Sandbar. The Stream Ring's "focus on quiet note-taking feels different" from voice AI services and wearables in general, he says. "It's also something made to feel like an extension of your notes rather than another person. And it feels less intrusive." Sandbar promises all-day battery life for the Stream Ring. The promise of a lightweight, whisper-friendly wearable for rapid thought capture fits the moment. With AI flowing into every productivity app and headset, a ring that augments internal monologue instead of competing with it stands out. The Stream Ring is available to preorder now in silver for $249 or gold for $299. It includes three months of Stream Pro, a premium subscription required for most features to work. This then costs $10 a month for early users, though there is a free tier available. Sandbar plans for the smart ring to begin shipping in summer 2026.

This AI smart ring lets you record voice notes with a whisper

Another AI-powered wearable is coming to market. It's not a pendant like Friend, nor a wristband like Amazon's Bee. This time, it's a smart ring called the Stream Ring from the company Sandbar founded by former employees of the neural interface startup CTRL-Labs that was acquired by Meta. Users can preorder the Stream Ring now for $249 for silver or $299 for gold, and it's expected to ship to the US in the summer of 2026. Stream Ring is designed to "capture thoughts in the moment" as a tool for "self extension," the company says. Wearers can "whisper in a crowd" and the ring will record and transcribe their notes-to-self or conversations. From these recordings, Stream will create notes in the accompanying app, initially available on iOS. The dictaphone ring doubles as a music controller, but the company doesn't elaborate on whether the product streams music or connects to music apps on the phone. The product also interacts with the users with "through thoughtful questions and intelligent responses" through the personalized AI chatbot. The "Inner Voice" is actually designed to sound like the user; it's based on the user's own recorded voice during the product's set up. (If you want to hear about a wearable that has its own rather strong personality, read The Verge's coverage of the Friend necklace by Victoria Song.) Images of Stream Ring show a sleek ring with a aluminium exterior and black resin band interior, all of which is water resistant, according to the company. A slightly elevated platform on the ring's exterior houses an oval-shaped button, and small holes sit on either side. Voice notes are captured by pressing the button to activate the microphone. The company assures users that the microphone is "not always listening" and that data is encrypted. Other features are controlled with capacitive touch sensors and haptics. For example, by tapping the ring once, you can interrupt a voice recording or start or pause music. Two taps move on to the next song, and a swipe gesture adjusts the volume. Stream Ring's charger is a small flat disc with a U-shaped holder that wraps around the side of the band. The battery life is listed as lasting "all day." While Stream Ring can pair with headphones via Bluetooth, headphones are not required to use the product. The free version of Stream has unlimited notes and chats. The Pro version unlocks unlimited interactions and early features. Users who preorder the product get a three-month pro subscription, which they can extend for $10 per month afterwards.

This AI ring takes notes for you and even talks back - in your own voice

Sandbar's Stream Ring is a wearable note-taker. It works like a microphone around your finger.Stream Ring is now available to preorder. While most AI assistants try to do everything -- from navigating directions and answering random queries to finding and reserving an acceptable dinner spot -- this startup's product takes a simpler, more straightforward approach. Also: Why the AI wearable market is set to grow by 10x - and it's not just new gadgets Sandbar's first product, the Stream Ring, is an AI note-taker that can capture even quick or quiet conversations as well as stream-of-consciousness narration, like when a user dictates to it offhand, according to the company. "Thoughts bubble up constantly, especially when we're on the go. I wanted to capture thoughts or talk through ideas, without pulling out a phone or speaking into the void. Importantly, I wanted that experience to feel like inner dialogue, not a conversation with a virtual companion," Mina Fahmi, CEO and co-founder of Sandbar, said in a press release shared with ZDNET. Fahmi and Kirak Hong first worked together at CTRL-Labs, where they worked on neural interfaces. Now, with a product of their own, they're aiming to develop technology that expands a user's ability to think and express thoughts for themselves, with privacy and encryption baked in. Also: This AI note taker is the size of a credit card and can record for days The Stream Ring fits around the index finger and engages with the speaker at a conversational pace. When users set up their ring on the app, they also set their Inner Voice, the personalized voice that speaks back to them. Inner Voice is tailored to each user's specific voice, but users can also choose a different-sounding one if the idea of their own voice talking back to them is too uncanny. Once set up, users initiate the ring by bringing it to their mouth and pushing the touchpad to interact. The Stream Ring vibrates to signal it is listening (it only listens upon touchpad initiation). The ring then takes notes, which users can access and edit within the accompanying app. Sandbar said on its website that the ring can capture ideas in a variety of sound environments, whether it's recording a whisper in a quiet room or on the go. It does not need a mobile connection to work or capture audio. Two models, Stream Silver for $249 and Stream Gold for $299, are now available for preorder. The ring begins shipping in summer 2026. Also: You can chat with Google Maps now, thanks to this big AI upgrade - how it works Sandbar offers a $10 Stream Pro monthly subscription for unlimited notes, chats, and early features. The ring comes with three months free and has all-day battery life.

This AI Recorder Ring Deepfakes Your Voice to Let You â€~Interface With Your Thoughts’

If Plaud selling a million of its notetaking devices wasn't enough to convince you that AI recorders are a real thing, maybe a ring will do the trick. Introducing the Stream Ring, a new AI recorder or "mouse for voice" from a startup called Sandbar, which puts its own (kind of creepy) spin on the idea. The Stream Ring, is (duh) a ring that comes with a microphone and functions much in the same way as Plaud's card-sized device. It records your voice at the push of a button and lets you record ideas or "moments of inspiration," as Sandbar puts it. The difference? The Stream Ring, as a part of its onboarding process, listens to your voice and attempts to mimic it using a feature it calls "Inner Voice." The idea here is that talking to the Stream Ring, which runs AI models in the cloud, will feel more like... talking to yourself. "It creates the feeling of talking with yourself, a conversational layer designed to sound like you, allowing you to develop ideas more naturally and intuitively," Sandbar states in a press release. Sure! That's one way to characterize the idea of talking to yourself at length. Outside of that fairly strange choice of using AI to mimic your voice, the Stream Ring functions similarly to other AI notetaking devices. To record, you hold the ring up to your mouth and press a touchpad on the device to capture your thoughts (Sandbar says it only records when you want it to), which is then confirmed by haptic feedback. All of your recordings are accessible in an app (called Stream) afterward, where you can view and edit your conversations. Sandbar claims that all of your recordings are encrypted both when they're stored and when they're being transferred to servers, but as always, you use a device like this at your own risk. If all of your voice notes get hacked at some point, don't say I didn't tell you so. Sandbar also hasn't shared any tech specs. How long is the battery life for this AI recorder ring? We have no idea yet. Unlike Plaud, Sandbar isn't crowdfunded via Kickstarter and is actually using venture funds raised by its founders, former members of CTRL-Labs, a neural band startup that was acquired by Meta (then Facebook) in 2019 for between $500 million and $1 billion, according to CNBC. To give you even more of an idea of how apparently popular the AI recorder market is becoming, it's worth noting that Sandbar has already raised $13 million to make its Stream Ring, which decidedly ain't nothin' for a fairly niche-seeming device. Clearly, Sandbar sees itself a little differently than upstarts like Plaud, though, which focuses more on productivity as opposed to creativity and "expanding your capacity to think," which are sentiments that Sandbar mentions frequently in its description of the Stream Ring. One thing that seems to be unavoidable in any iteration of these devices is that they come saddled with a subscription if you want to get the most out of the recorder. The Stream Ring comes in either silver or gold and is available for preorder at $249 and $299, respectively. Sandbar says the Stream Ring will start shipping in summer 2026. Sandbar is also upselling a version of its app called Stream Pro, which gives users unlimited notes and chats, as well as early features. Sandbar is including three months free, but after that it will cost you $10 per month (but only for "early customers"). No word on how much the app subscription will cost if you're not. There's a free tier, too, though, if you feel like you don't need that much storage.

Make voice notes feel normal with an AI ring that runs your music

Stream turns quick thoughts into editable AI notes, with press to talk capture, haptic confirms, and mic off by default. What's happened? Sandbar, founded by ex-Meta and CTRL-Labs talent, unveiled Stream, a smart ring it calls a "mouse for voice." Press and speak to quietly capture an idea, get a usable note or quick assistant reply, then swipe to run your music. * Touch to record, release to stop, with the mic off unless you are holding the pad. * In a demo, whispers were transcribed in a companion iOS app. * The app's chatbot files what you say into clean, editable notes. * Encryption at rest and in transit puts privacy up front. This is important because: Voice gadgets keep arriving, but few feel natural in public. A ring aims for discretion and immediacy, so saving a thought does not mean talking into the air or fishing out your phone. * Rivals range from cards to pendants, yet a finger press to record may be the least awkward move. * If thumb controls and quiet capture stick, rings could become the default interface for light AI chats and quick media control. * If you have tried Oura, think of Stream as the opposite focus, it skips health tracking to prioritize quiet note capture and simple music control. Recommended Videos Why should I care? You decide when it listens and where your notes live, and you can tune the assistant to sound a bit like you. The pitch is simple, quick capture and private review. * Sandbar says users control exports, including to tools like Notion, and a voice tuned toward yours can make back and forth feel more natural. * Haptic taps confirm a save with no audible reply, useful when you want silence. * The niche function can be contrasted to the best smart rings in the market. See what is out now and choose wisely. * Digital Brevity Reporter said: * It leans on voice and an AI assistant, but unlike the Rabbit R1 it skips app replacement and a screen, focusing on quick note capture and simple music control. Okay, so what's next? Preorders are open, silver at $249, gold at $299. A Pro plan follows a three-month trial at $10 per month, and Sandbar targets shipping next summer. * Pro includes unlimited chats and notes plus early features and priority updates. * The $13 million raise should help production and support.

Forget AI companions. This $249 AI ring lets you talk to yourself

Launching today, Stream Ring is a wearable device that lets you capture your thoughts, brainstorm ideas, prepare for an interview, or -- if you're the company CTO's 7-year-old child -- simply learn about dinosaurs. The ring, which comes in silver ($249) and gold ($299), with a black resin contour on the inside, is available to preorder now, with shipping to begin in summer 2026. It only listens when you press and hold on its miniature touchpad, a bit like a walkie-talkie. You wear it on your index finger, raise it to your lips when you want to save that brilliant idea you just had, or find a quick recipe for Japanese eggplants, and press to record. The ring confirms it's listening with a gentle haptic vibration, then transcribes your thoughts onto an accompanying app. Unlike the much-reviled Friend AI pendant, which types answers to your query on its app, Stream Ring talks back into your earbuds, while also saving its answer into the app. The ultimate goal? To help you bridge the gap between your thoughts and your words.