The landscape of personal technology is rapidly evolving with a proliferation of voice-based hardware devices designed for a range of purposes including companionship, productivity, and personal growth. These innovations include card-shaped devices like Plaud and Pocket, pendants from Friend, Limitless, and Taya, and a wristband from Bee (now part of Amazon). Adding to this innovative wave, Sandbar, a startup founded by two former Meta employees, has introduced the Stream ring, a novel device aiming to revolutionize how users interact with AI and manage their daily thoughts and tasks.

Sandbar was co-founded by Mina Fahmi, CEO, and Kirak Hong, CTO. Fahmi brings extensive experience in human-computer interface design, having worked at Bryan Johnson’s Kernel and the smart glasses startup Magic Leap. Hong’s background includes a tenure at Google before joining CTRL-Labs, where he and Fahmi met. CTRL-Labs was later acquired by Meta in 2019, with its work contributing to neural interfaces for the tech giant’s smart wearables. Their combined expertise laid the groundwork for the Stream ring, which Sandbar describes as “a mouse for voice” due to its capabilities in note-taking, AI assistant interaction, and music control.

The inspiration for the Stream ring stemmed from Fahmi’s personal experience. He observed that while large language models offered immense potential, an experimental journaling app he built became a barrier to fluidly capturing his thoughts. Recognizing the need for a more natural, conversational hardware interface, Fahmi and Hong sought a solution that would allow users to record ideas spontaneously without the interruption of pulling out a phone or the public exposure of speaking into earbuds. This desire to capture thoughts the moment they emerge, particularly during activities like walking or commuting, led to the development of Stream.

The Stream ring is designed to be worn on the dominant hand's index finger and is equipped with microphones and a touchpad. By default, the microphone is off, activating only when the user presses and holds the touchpad. In demonstrations, the microphone proved sensitive enough to accurately pick up whispers and transcribe them into the companion iOS app. This discreet functionality allows users to capture their thoughts quietly, akin to other applications like Wispr Flow and Willow that offer similar quiet thought-capture capabilities.

Beyond simple transcription, the Stream app integrates an AI chatbot that can converse with the user as they record their thoughts. Users can organize these interactions into separate notes, which can be edited by either the user or the AI. The app also offers a unique visualization feature, allowing users to