CosNFXCosNFXManual
Field manual

Set up your gesture FX.

Everything CosNFX does, in plain English — from your first gesture to a whole synced show with lights, smoke, and DMX. Follow it top to bottom, or jump to what you need.

01 Get started

CosNFX is a standalone Wear OS app — it runs on the watch itself, so a phone or Wi-Fi is optional.

  1. Install CosNFX from Google Play onto your Wear OS watch (Galaxy, Pixel, and others).
  2. Open it. You land on the HUD — a ring of gesture buttons around the active identity's name, with the watch's IP address and a 6-digit PIN at the bottom (those two are for the browser control panel, later).
  3. That's it — the watch is ready to fire sounds. Everything else below is about customizing it.
Free vs Pro. The whole experience — all 30 identities, the full sound & visualization library, every gesture, and the browser control panel — is free. An optional one-time $4.99 Pro unlock (no subscription) adds your own uploads, custom-recorded gestures, real prop control, multi-device audio, and Battle mode. Pro features are marked Pro below.

02 Arm & disarm

The watch only fires effects while it's armed — so it stays quiet while you get into costume.

  • Tap the centre pill ("TAP TO ARM") to arm, and tap again to disarm.
  • Double-tap the watch body to disarm hands-free — handy mid-performance when you can't look down.
Use the centre pill or the Wear Tile to arm deliberately. Once armed, a deliberate double-tap disarms without making you look down.

03 The gestures

Seven gestures work out of the box, each a distinct motion the watch recognises. Perform them with the arm you wear the watch on:

  • Underhand flick — a quick upward flick of the wrist.
  • Overhand flick — flick the wrist downward.
  • Forward strike — a straight thrust ahead.
  • Down-punch — drive a fist down, like a landing.
  • Hip-thrust — a sharp forward thrust, pulled down and toward you.
  • Fist-clench — a firm clench, like pulling a trigger (opt-in — enable it in the controls).
  • Overhead raise — raise your arm overhead and hold.

Each gesture plays that identity's sound for it. If one won't fire reliably for the way you move, calibrate it — it takes seconds.

04 Identities

An identity is a character preset — its colour, its sound kit, its energy field, and its backdrop. CosNFX ships with 30 (heroes, monsters, and mages), and they're your starting point.

  • Switch identities from the profile switcher in Mission Control or the companion app.
  • Build your own from scratch, or duplicate one and change it — new, duplicate, rename, and delete all live in the profile bar.

05 Mission Control & the companion

You configure everything from one of two control surfaces — use whichever you have handy.

Mission Control (any browser)

  1. Put the watch and your phone or laptop on the same Wi-Fi.
  2. In a browser, go to the IP address shown on the watch HUD (for example 192.168.1.11:8080).
  3. Enter the 6-digit PIN the watch displays. You're in — a full control panel with tabs for gestures, sounds, looks, props, calibration, and settings.
Keep the watch on Wi-Fi. Some watches turn Wi-Fi off when they're paired to a phone over Bluetooth. If Mission Control won't load, set the watch's Wi-Fi to "Always on" (Settings → Connections → Wi-Fi).

Companion app (Bluetooth)

Install the CosNFX companion on your phone for the same controls as a native app — it works over Bluetooth even with Wi-Fi off, and it doubles as a second speaker and a camera-flash muzzle. The paired phone is already trusted, so it connects straight through — the PIN step is just for browsers.

06 Sounds & your own audio

Every gesture has a main sound and an optional support sound layered under it.

  • Pick from the library — a big built-in set of themed effects, all free. In Mission Control or the companion, open a gesture and choose its sound.
  • Bring your own Pro — upload your own WAV, MP3, or OGG in the Library tab and assign it to any gesture, so a character sounds exactly the way you hear it.
  • Set a per-gesture volume and sensitivity on the same row.

07 Control the look

Shape what the watch shows behind the HUD in the Looks tab.

  • HUD backdrop — a cinematic scene, the identity's emblem, a solid colour, or black (which saves battery).
  • Your own art Pro — upload an image or GIF and set it as the backdrop.
  • Energy field — a translucent effect that idles softly and bursts on a gesture; pick its style or turn it off.

08 Custom gestures Pro & combos

Record a custom gesture

  1. In the Gestures tab, tap Record.
  2. Perform your move once (about a second) — the watch learns how you throw it.
  3. Name it, then assign it to a button and give it a sound, just like a built-in.

Chain a combo

Build a sequence of gestures — with your own timing between them — that fires a finisher sound when you land the whole chain. Add steps in the Combos tab, set the waits, and save.

09 Calibrate to you

If a built-in gesture misfires for your body or the way you wear the watch, calibrate it — this is free for everyone.

  1. Open the Calibrate tab and pick a gesture.
  2. Perform it once when prompted. The watch aims its detector at your real motion.
  3. It now fires reliably. Reset to defaults anytime.

10 Route & multi-device audio

Decide which device plays each gesture, in Settings.

  • Route the sound to the watch, your phone, or any browser running Mission Control — in any combination.
  • Split the main and support layers across devices (for example, the watch plays the main hit while the phone carries the support layer).
  • Multiple devices at once Pro — open Mission Control on several phones or screens and a gesture plays across all of them, turning the room into a surround rig.

11 Props: lights, smoke, DMX & OSC Pro

Fire real-world gear on the same gesture, over your Wi-Fi. In the Props tab, give each gesture an action:

  • HTTP — a GET/POST/PUT to a device on your network: WLED LED strips, Philips Hue, Home Assistant (drive smoke machines & fans through a smart plug), and ESP32/Arduino builds.
  • OSC — send an OSC message to QLab, lighting software, or Ableton.
  • DMX via Art-Net — address a channel on a lighting console or Art-Net node to hit a fixture directly.

Enter the target for a gesture, hit Test, and it fires alongside the sound so the whole effect lands together.

The phone companion can act as the network bridge — a watch gesture goes to the phone, and the phone reaches your rig over its stronger Wi-Fi.

12 Battle mode Pro

Link two or more watches over Wi-Fi for versus play.

  1. In the Combat tab, turn Battle mode on and set a shared code; add each opponent's IP.
  2. Arm up. A strike deals damage to a linked opponent — their health ring drops and their damage sound plays.
  3. Hold an overhead raise as a strike lands to block it. Health regenerates while you're disarmed.

13 Battery & power saver

  • Power saver (Settings) lets the screen sleep while you stay armed — gestures and sound keep firing; tap to see the HUD again.
  • At a low battery the watch enables power saver on its own to keep you running longer.
  • For the longest life, set the HUD backdrop to black and leave the energy field off.

14 Troubleshooting

Mission Control won't load

Confirm the watch and browser are on the same Wi-Fi, and set the watch's Wi-Fi to "Always on" (it can switch off when paired to a phone over Bluetooth).

The companion shows "offline" on the charger

When the watch sits on its charger, its screen backs out to the charging face and the system can pause the app. Open CosNFX on the watch to reconnect. During normal use (armed, off the charger) this doesn't happen.

A gesture won't fire

Calibrate it to your motion, and make sure the watch is armed. Fist-clench is opt-in — enable it first.

A sound plays the wrong thing or a thin fallback

Re-pick the sound in Mission Control; uploaded files should be WAV, MP3, or OGG.

Still stuck? Email cosNFX@jonathancapone.com.