TapXR – Wrist Worn Keyboard, AirMouse & Controller for VR, AR, MR, Tablets, PC, Laptops, Smartwatch, Smartphones, TVs & Projectors.

Fun idea with limited use.
It “works” but is unpredictable, particularly in Windows/MacOS. Okay on iOS, but I’m not sure what the use case is–maybe if you want to type with one hand while looking at your iPhone with the other during a mass-transit commute. Still, you have to learn the typing technique–doable but takes practice. As such, it is grossly overpriced.

Yeah. Don’t buy this– even if you already know the Tap alphabet
I have owned a TapStrap 2 for several years and used it quite a bit– self-referentially– to learn the Tap alphabet (oddly, never used it in VR). I was very impressed with the design– a keyboard, desktop mouse, and air mouse in such a small package, and the design of the alphabet is actually really smart– I could tell I was dealing with a product from bright people, but I really didn’t have a use case for it.. until recently.
I affixed a phone to my left forearm (development project) and thought input for that would actually be a perfect application for the TapStrap, so I got it out, charged it up, and refreshed myself on the alphabet. Unfortunately, there are a couple of things that irritate me about my TS2– like the airmouse is almost useless without excessive practice (that shouldn’t be necessary), it will sometimes misrecognize my input, it’s hard to keep the bands snug on my fingers (technically, not an issue, but I prefer the feeling), so I thought I would try the TapXR, assuming it would be– after some five or six years– a far superior product to the TapStrap, and solve those problems.
Just from looking at the pictures, I had reservations– I have broad hands and thick wrists, and also, it actually looked more obtrusive on the wrist than the TS2 is on the fingers. But, they know what they’re doing, right?
Oh my, no. The things I thought would be problems are exactly the problems I thought they would be (and puzzlingly would have been easily foreseen).
1) Because of my thick man wrists, I use the larger band, but it doesn’t sit right, because it doesn’t actually go around the arm– it’s just “clamped” (you can see in the pics that it’s just a C) with soft silicon that I can readily see being knocked off the arm, or at the very least, misaligned. In some positions, it felt like it would fall off (or even pop itself off), and this is actually a very important point, because the sensor is very finicky, so having it in just the right place requires you to turn this band– that is MOLDED IN A FIXED ORIENTATION, so it keeps wanting to move itself back to square with the bone in my wrist.
1b) I’m only likely to use a device like this if it’s handy. With my TS2, I can just leave it on my hand and do *most* normal activity (e.g., I am typing on a regular keyboard now, but still have the TAP on). The XR would be directly under my arm.
2) The sensor module itself is also peculiar. It slides into the wristband in a strangely precarious way. To power it on, you slide it forward and to power it off, you slide it back. In the forward position, for reasons I do not understand, the module can rotate downward, past where it’s supposed to be to work, and turn all the way around backwards– and then fall out of the wristband. It isn’t secured with any kind of.. anything, really. It’s relying on a very shallow channel that mates with the sensor body, and then a magnet to hold it in place when it’s retracted. And since it can do this all-the-way-around rotation, it adds to the difficulty of getting the sensor in a good place. This feels really under-productized.
3) If 1 and 2 don’t bother you (like, if you’re going to use it with VR indoors, and that’s it), let me tell you about how it works. So, position is crucial, and as I alluded to, maintaining the position is not easy. My experience went from “this thing doesn’t work at all” and then, after downloading a bunch of updates, “this thing doesn’t work as well as my TS2”. As I mentioned my hands, the biggest problem this thing has is occlusion– and possibly also field of view.
3a) For example, if I have the XR in a working position, I sometimes discover that while I can make R properly, it isn’t even seeing my fingers making N– not misrecognizing, but not even seeing the fingers. I can adjust it, but then have the reverse problem. This isn’t always– which almost makes it worse.
3b) If my fingers are too close, like when making G, where middle and ring fingers both come down, I typically have those fingers together, but the XR may see it as just one finger.
3c) When it’s working properly, it’s pretty good– but I had to moderate my enthusiasm when I stopped to think about it. The XR’s “good” isn’t any better than the TapStrap. To wit, this evening, I sat under ideal conditions, at a table, in good lighting, and played about 10 rounds of Endless Mode using each device– with the XR, my highest score was in the 80s; with the TapStrap, almost 300. And that includes that, for some reason, my TapStrap kept “not working” for several seconds almost every game (it would just suddenly be like it didn’t exist).
4) Ecosystem. Two things. One, you can pair the XR with up to three devices. You can switch which device by holding down the power button, which is tiny and on the back of the sensor (unlike the TapStrap, you can’t reach the power button with the same hand). I have it paired to two different phones (this wasn’t intended; the phone I initially paired it with couldn’t update the firmware), but when powered on, rather than default to the last device it was connected to, it apparently just connects to.. not that device, requiring me to cycle through connections to get it connected. That part is REALLY weird. And BAD. More BAD than WEIRD really.
Two: the software is essentially unchanged since the release of the TapStrap– the fact that it’s severely dated is just a part of it, but there are so many ways they could have improved the software to better support the user in the intervening years. That software and the teaching program were clearly well-thought out and smartly designed, but that fact that it is unchanged makes it feel like abandonware (if I wasn’t getting the emails, I’d have thought TAP was out of business). Each of the applications needs just a few tweaks– not the least of which is acknowledging that this TapXR exists, and that it requires some different hints and help.
5) The XR doesn’t have a tabletop mouse mode. It does (now) have an airmouse mode that is, incredibly, even worse than the TapStrap’s airmouse mode. At least with the TapStrap, you quickly learn your lesson and use the surface mouse. Even GETTING IN to airmouse mode on the XR is nearly impossible to do (on purpose). The gesture is supposed to be the same as with the TapStrap– thumb and forefinger together, pointing forward, but in that position, my index finger is 100% occluded; the sensor can not see it directly.
When I think of what they could have done with the TapStrap’s basic design, I’m mad that this thing exists. Even if they wanted it off the fingers for some reason, why not a band that goes around the palm, with a broader, flatter, rounder sensor that fits into the palm– AND CAN SEE ALL THE FINGERS ALL THE TIME?! This feels like something that sounded like a good idea.. and nobody stopped to say “What problem are we trying to solve?” (I mean, you could say that about the whole TAP idea, but I’ll allow there’s at least a very niche use case).

Returned. Not sure if defective or just plain not working. The product when connected, gives you a bit of input time for maybe 10 to 20s before going completely unresponsive if you are lucky. Otherwise, it will be just straight up unresponsive. Restarting the device does nothing and maybe 10 restarts grant you one chance at getting lucky. If you like gambling, this may be your thing.
Great idea. Poor execution. Poor quality control. Regretted even getting it. Should have done more homework. Do not trust the good reviews. Do your own research.