Does Anybody Understand the Growing Obsession With Smart Rings?

As soon as hefty processors were tiny enough to jam into your air pocket , fellowship heavy and small have been hunting for other ways they can strap tech onto our bodies . Fitness trackers and smartwatches were only the start , and if the last few calendar month deserving of patents divine wearables ’ near futurity , smart rings are next .

The idea of a “ impudent ring ” is n’t incredibly new . It ’s been fodder foroverly ambitious Kickstartersfor year and only late became an idea that wasn’thilariously terrible . But where many smart rings are often febrility aspiration by small companies with petty capital and no manufacture experience , this unexampled craw of patents come from the big wig : Apple , Microsoft , and most late , Samsung .

We ’ve written before how a overbold ringis not the futurity you ’re wait for , but Apple and booster seem to be taking the mind and simply make do prospect . Apple , for illustration , thinks smart ringsare a smartphone - tether wearable , with a low screen or touchpad , that gives tactile feedback for notifications , comes with a small mike for open commands , and may even determine what you ’re writing by analyse hand gesture . Basically , an incredibly barebones interpretation of the Apple Watch .

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Illustration ofApple ’s smart ring .

Microsoft wants its depth - sense rings to be the one and only wearable controller for your life , whether for your smartphone or ( eventually ) your HoloLens AR headset . And today , Samsungbecame the latest companyto dream up a impudent ring , winning a letters patent that promises specific mapping for certain apps like Facebook , control for your television , and even a wearable hub for your future IoT smart home .

Illustration of Microsoft ’s fresh doughnut .

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These devices are still only hypothetical at best , but the last three months has seen a detectable uptick in smart gang yack . Or at least , fresh ring patent yak .

Smart rings are a step beyond anything Apple , Microsoft , or Samsung has ever tried to build in one boastful way , however . Unlike smartphones and even smartwatches , their chief function is as a fashion accessory . Smartphones , meanwhile , extend obvious utility and expand well beyond being just a introductory texting and call machine . Old fashioned watch are more rudimentary , yet smartwatches have evolved beyond the wrist - conduct gadget ’s wide-eyed time - separate function . But rings are strictly aesthetic , so in many ways , they ’re a blank canvas , technologically verbalize .

Illustration of Samsung ’s impudent ring .

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Collectively , the new smart halo patents show that even Apple , Microsoft , and Samsung do n’t really know what they ’re doing yet or what a digit - sized wearable would even look like . They ’re shake off out theme just to see if anything works , much like the many failed ( and thefew slightly interesting ) Kickstarters before them . In a world where smartwatches still feel senseless at times , however , chic ring seem even more so .

irrespective , tech companies trust that bright rings could be a novel wearable frontier . As to whether or not any of the punishing hitting hardware producer will actually explore the applied science remains to be see .

[ Patently Mobile ]

Photo: Jae C. Hong