Touching the future: Human-AI Collaboration
Industries like healthcare, robotics, and training simulations have long searched for a more effective way to track hand movements and deliver real-time tactile feedback. Traditional camera-based systems often fall short, losing accuracy when hands interact with physical objects or move outside the camera’s field of view. Smart gloves, while promising, are typically bulky, limiting dexterity and making it difficult to handle real-world tools.
Palmplug is redefining this space with a lightweight wearable device that offers precise tracking of hand and finger movements even while users grip actual objects. Unlike previous solutions, Palmplug’s compact design preserves natural dexterity, allowing seamless interaction with tools, instruments, and the environment. Its integrated haptic technology delivers rich tactile feedback, simulating textures and vibrations to create an immersive, responsive experience. Multi-colored LED lights provide intuitive visual cues, guiding users through tasks and enhancing engagement.
For patients recovering from hand injuries, machine operators, surgeons, therapists, and athletes, Palmplug means greater control, more accurate feedback, and the freedom to operate naturally with AI-powered guidance quite literally at their fingertips. By bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds, Palmplug empowers users across various industries to master fine motor skills, accelerate rehabilitation, and unlock new levels of performance
A Moment of Insight
Palmplug was inspired by a simple, powerful moment in a music classroom for blind students. Founder Ola Adesanya watched as an instructor placed her hand over a student’s, guiding them to the right piano keys. “That image stuck with me,” Ola says. “It was so effective in helping students learn. I wanted to create something that could offer that same sense of guided control.” That vision became Palmplug, a platform that replicates the presence of a guiding hand using precision tracking, haptic feedback, and subtle muscle stimulation, all without limiting natural movement.
The Technology
Palmplug captures finger movement with precision and provides feedback through vibration, visual cues, and light muscle stimulation. Unlike gloves or camera-based systems, it does not rely on visual tracking or obstruct hand function. Users maintain full dexterity and tactile sensation, making it possible to grip tools, play instruments, or perform delicate procedures while receiving real-time support. “Our goal is to enhance precision without taking anything away,” Ola explains. “We wanted to give people more control, not more equipment.” This makes Palmplug uniquely suited to applications in Robotics, rehabilitation, immersive training and sports performance.
Breaking Past the Limitations
While smart gloves restrict movement and cameras lose track as soon as objects are introduced, Palmplug preserves natural motion while delivering precise guidance. “We are not building another glove,” says Ola. “We are building a platform that empowers people to use their hands naturally, while benefiting from real-time guidance.” That difference, full motion plus active support, positions Palmplug not just as a tool but as a foundation for new kinds of interaction.
Building Momentum
Palmplug made its public debut at CES 2024, where it was named one of Wired’s top ten products of the year and featured by CNN Business and The Verge. That momentum helped build a waitlist of more than five hundred developers and organizations. Since then, the company has raised over half a million dollars, completed its minimum viable product, and begun manufacturing in Taiwan. A full product launch is planned for June 2025. Palmplug is also preparing to release a software development kit so others can build on the platform, while Rable, Palmplug’s stroke rehab system, is moving into pilot partnerships. “Our waitlist and customer interviews gave us validation,” Ola says. “Users told us how they would use Palmplug to solve real-world problems we had not even thought of yet.” Behind the momentum is a deeply technical team with experience spanning medical devices, firmware engineering, and immersive systems, giving Palmplug the foundation to execute across sectors.
Choosing the Right Launchpad
When looking to scale Palmplug from prototype to product, Ola sought an environment tailored to hardware innovation. “I did not want a general accelerator,” he says. “mHUB has the tools, the labs, and a community focused on building physical products. That is exactly what we needed.” The mHUB accelerator offered Palmplug direct access to healthcare partnerships, and a robust mentor network, helping turn technical momentum into commercial readiness.
Laying the Foundation for What’s Next
Palmplug’s long-term vision is to become the foundation for a new generation of dexterous applications. From robotic control to training and real time AI guidance, Ola sees Palmplug as a core layer of interaction technology. “We believe the next big platform is the hand,” he says. “Guiding, tracking, and stimulating the hand unlocks so many possibilities.” By enabling developers to build on its system, Palmplug aims to expand what people can do with precision, feedback, and freedom.
Reimagining Human Potential
Palmplug is about enhancing the capabilities of the hand “We are not just building technology,” Ola says. “We are creating possibilities that change lives, one hand at a time.
Learn more about how mHUB supports early-stage medical device companies
mHUB has supported over 1,200 innovators by providing a hyper-resourced environment with the goal of commercializing new hardtech innovation. The mHUB community has generated more than $1.96B in revenue, launched more than 1,700 products, hired more than 6,800 employees, and raised over $2.02B in capital. To date, mHUB has invested in 54 startups across smart manufacturing, energy tech, and medtech.
Learn more about their MedTech accelerator program and venture capital fund, mHUB Ventures.
