Rafał Gajek Overhauls the Wearable Ring Mouse, Delivers Two Control Modes and Improved Ergonomics

Maker Rafał Gajek has updated his 3D-printable Mouse Ring project, creating a second-generation version that replaces the tactile switches of the original design with a joystick — connected to a host machine over Bluetooth via a Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 microcontroller board.

"The [project] was created for the need of easy mouse control with VR [Virtual Reality] headset," Gajek explains of his work on small form factor wearable control systems. "Built on the basis of the Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 microcontroller and programmed in CircuitPython. Controller is connecting with PC by Bluetooth."

Gajek launched the original Mouse Ring two years ago, using the same compact Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 microcontroller board — which, as its name implies, is based on the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 wireless system-on-chip — with four tactical switches arranged in a cross pattern. The biggest change in the new design: a five-way joystick, designed to be controlled with the thumb while the ring is worn on the index finger.

Other changes since the original model include two different operation modes. The first is a simple joystick-controlled mouse mode: the four cardinal directions on the joystick are used to control the movement of the cursor, while pushing the joystick in acts as a left-click. The second mode maps the four joystick directions to left and right mouse clicks and up- and down-scroll wheel movement — and pushing the joystick in wakes the gadget from an ultra-low-power deep-sleep mode.

Still designed to be 3D printed, the Mouse Ring V2 includes selectable diameters from 19mm to 24mm (around 0.75" to 0.94") and improved ergonomics over the original — not least of which comes from a 3D-printed cover that slots over the joystick. It is also, Gajek says, easier to assemble than his earlier design.

The project is documented in full on Gajek's Instructables page, though at the time of writing the source code had not yet appeared on his GitHub account.