Manufactured by a Hong Kong startup of the same name, the CenWatch is currently featured in a Kickstarter campaign. The device includes a 368 x 448 AMOLED screen that displays the time, date, and battery charge level.

Figure 1. Laser-Powered Smartwatch Enables Gesture-Based Device Control.

Positioned on the underside of the wearer's wrist, this technology utilizes near-infrared lasers to track the three-dimensional spatial position of all five fingers relative to the wrist. This allows users to perform predefined gestures with remarkable precision, boasting an accuracy of up to 1 mm. Figure 1 shows Laser-Powered Smartwatch Enables Gesture-Based Device Control.

To activate the CenWatch, simply raise your arm to a 90-degree angle, as if checking the time. From that point, the onboard HelioG99 8-core CPU processes LiDAR and IMU data in real time, accurately interpreting the user's gestures and commands.

The recognized commands are transmitted via Bluetooth to paired Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, or Linux devices, with an effective range of up to 196 ft (60 m). Additionally, smart TVs and other devices can be controlled using IFTTT (If This Then That) technology.

The CenWatch is especially well-suited for use with AR and VR glasses, enabling users to interact with 3D environments through intuitive 3D gestures. By shifting control hardware from the glasses to the watch, this technology could pave the way for sleeker, more energy-efficient AR/VR wearables in the future.

Users can perform standard interface actions like tapping, clicking, swiping, scrolling, and even typing on a virtual keyboard. Additionally, during PowerPoint-style presentations, they can write or draw on the projected display using midair hand gestures.

The entire device weighs approximately 92 g (3.25 oz), and its 1,700-mAh lithium-ion battery provides up to 10 hours of runtime on a single charge.

CenWatch: Enhancing AR Glasses with Air Touch Controls

Seamless Interaction

CenWatch revolutionizes AR glasses by introducing air touch controls, making them more intuitive and user-friendly. With its advanced LiDAR technology, it transforms AR/VR glasses into an experience similar to the Apple Vision Pro.

Solving the Interaction Challenge

A major limitation of AR glasses has been the lack of an effective interaction method, leading to low adoption rates despite their powerful features. CenWatch serves as the perfect interactive gateway, allowing users to control their AR glasses effortlessly by simply swiping their fingers in the air.

By integrating CenWatch, AR glasses can finally reach their full potential, evolving into a truly mature and practical product category.

CenWatch: A Powerful Computing Hub for AR Glasses

Optimizing Performance and Design

AR glasses have long struggled to balance volume, weight, and battery life due to their high computing power demands. CenWatch addresses this challenge by integrating advanced mobile phone chips, allowing it to serve as an external computing power source for AR glasses.

Lighter, More Efficient AR Glasses

By offloading processing tasks to CenWatch, AR glasses can become lighter and more compact while significantly improving battery life. This innovation enhances design flexibility and enables the integration of richer features, pushing AR technology toward a more advanced and practical future.

Powerful 6nm Mobile Chip for Seamless Performance

CenWatch is powered by the MT6789, a cutting-edge 6nm process mobile chip featuring eight cores—including two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores (up to 2.2GHz) and six efficient Cortex-A55 cores (up to 2.2GHz). This may be the most powerful chip ever integrated into a smartwatch.

With this advanced processing power, CenWatch excels as both an interaction hub and a computing hub, enabling smooth performance for AR/VR control, real-time gesture recognition, and even running large and medium-sized Android applications.

Reference:

1. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/429975115/cenwatch-the-telekinesis-band-for-all-screens?
2. https://newatlas.com/wearables/cenwatch-lidar-midair-hand-gestures/

Cite this article:

Priyadharshini S (2025),"Laser-Equipped Watch Enables Midair Hand Gestures for Device Control", AnaTechmaz, pp. 337