When we think about wearable technology, we normally think of ordinary accessories like fitness bands, smartwatches, headphones, and so on. However, there are a plethora of Smart wearables all around us, and Smart rings are one of them.
These newer wearables are lighter and smaller than watches and bracelets. They also seem to be regular jewellery. So you’ve undoubtedly seen one but haven’t realized it’s a Smart Gadget.
Although Smart rings are still in their infancy, there are a variety of alternatives on the market today. However, they are not as popular among consumers as smartwatches and fitness bands.
What Is A Smart Ring?
A Smart ring is a ring that incorporates some technologies. Unlike smartphones, which all make calls regardless of what else they do, no one function unifies all Smart rings.
They’ve been in the works for longer than you may think, starting approximately a decade ago. They were deemed equally as essential as smartwatches at the time. However, whereas Fitbit has popularised smartwatches, Smart rings are still in their infancy.
In part, that’s because putting technology in something as little as a ring comes with its own set of difficulties. It’s not simple to cram Bluetooth, a processor, and a slew of sensors into something small enough to wear on your finger.
Competition in the development field has led to issues. Some businesses entangle in legal battles over intellectual property rights. Despite these hurdles, many Smart rings have recently hit the market.
What Does A Smart Ring Look Like?
Distinct Smart ring types seem different from one another. Most of them have a very masculine appearance, as though IT companies assume the bulk of their clients is male. The titanium Oura Ring, for example, is designed to resemble a man’s wedding ring. It is available in two styles: Balance and Heritage.
Balance is available with a sleek silver or a high-gloss rear finish. For those who enjoy a little glitz, the silver version also comes with the option of a slim diamond band.
Heritage’s exterior surface is a sequence of planes that softly curve into one another rather than being smooth. It is available in gloss, matte, or silver finishes.
The Motiv Ring resembles it in appearance. It’s composed of titanium and resembles a man’s wedding ring. It comes in three different finishes: brushed silver, brushed rose gold, and matte black. Each has a thin black LED strip that runs vertically.
The McClear Ring is yet another simple band. This one is available in white or black. The matte hues distinguish it as something a little different from a standard Ring.
On the other hand, ORII adorns a large rectangular metal plate that affixes to the band. It’s sleek and attractive, and it comes in silver, copper, and black. But, with its etched emblem, it’s not just an average piece of jewelry.
How Do Smart Rings Work?
To understand how a Smart ring works, you must first know how they produce. Creating a Smart Ring entails cramming multiple technologies into a small Ring, such as Bluetooth, NFC chips, sensors, and batteries.
During the design stage, several compromises are made and technological issues occur. Today, technological breakthroughs have made it easy to design and construct a Smart ring. A typical Smart Ring may have motion sensors, haptic actuators, a battery, an NFC chip, an antenna, and other components, but not all of them do.
Another problem would be finding an appropriate size and adjustability choices. The biggest concern with a Smart ring is the size since it isn’t changeable to suit everyone’s fingers and you can’t modify it yourself.
Some Smart ring manufacturers have attempted to address this issue by offering sizing kits to customers who want to ensure they have the correct size before purchasing.
They’ll receive the kit with several sizes of plastic sample rings, which they’ll wear for a day at a time, testing on numerous fingers to discover the ideal fit for the right finger.
Once they’ve decided on a size, they’ll head to the producer’s website and fill out the necessary information. While this may complicate the shopping process, it is most likely the best approach to ensure you acquire the correct size for your finger.
What Does A Smart Ring Do?
Smart ring devices may use for a variety of purposes. The most prevalent applications we’ve seen on the market lately are in the health and fitness categories. Digital payments, internet security, and access control are just a few of the practical uses.
More use cases will undoubtedly emerge as the Smart ring industry evolves. Let’s go through some of the most prevalent practical applications for Smart rings in this part. It’s essential to know that most Smart Rings are multi-purpose.
For example, a Smart Ring can track both your sleeping and non-sleeping habits. Some Smart Rings can handle both contactless payments and internet security.
Sleep Monitoring
Smart Rings that measure sleep patterns monitor how much sleep you get, sleep disruptions, and how much time you spend in each sleep cycle. It enables Smart rings to provide suggestions to users on how to manage their bodies depending on their particular circadian rhythm, our natural 24-hour body clock.
Smart Rings are a popular option for sleep monitoring since they are less limiting and burdensome than other sleep-tracking devices such as a smartwatch or wrist-worn fitness bands. This Smart ring category has a lot of players, including GO2SLEEP, Oura, Motiv, and THIM.
Fitness Tracking
Fitness monitoring is a popular feature of Smart ring gadgets. Fitness Smart rings may track everyday activities such as the number of steps taken, the distance travelled when walking, and the number of calories burnt.
Health & Wellness Management:
Many Smart rings do very well in the field of health and wellbeing. These Smart rings, which include more advanced technology, can measure health metrics such as heart rate, blood oxygen levels (SpO2), blood pressure, glucose levels, etc.
Many wearable sensors may use to monitor a wearer’s stress level using a technique known as electrodermal activity (EDA). The Moodmetric Ring accomplishes just that and assists you in managing your stress levels.
Contactless Payments
Contactless payment systems are an emerging trend in the smart ring category, with technologies such as McLEAR and K Ring driving the way. With a contactless payment ring, you may tap-to-pay transactions on Visa and MasterCard contactless payment terminals worldwide that are less than the local floor limit.
Payment rings for credit and debit cards are now available from several banks in countries such as the UK, Japan, France, the Netherlands, Russia, and Australia. To make contactless payments, place the Smart Ring over a POS terminal and the transaction is complete.
Online Security
Online security is just now becoming an essential feature in Smart rings. Motiv Ring, for example, employs two-factor authentication (2FA) for online log-ins through its app and preset gesture control.
Biometric authentication is an emerging internet security feature in Smart rings that gives a more secure method to surf the web than passwords and PINs. Motiv is putting fingerprint scanning and face recognition as identification techniques through a beta test.
Electronic heart rate (ECG) and gait analysis are now being used for biometric identification. ECG, like facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, is significantly more secure and resistant to hacking, identity theft, phishing, and other malicious activities.
Remote Control
Most smart rings can operate your smartphone and other gadgets. Smart Rings, whether used to set alarms, receive a message or call alerts, or control music, are an excellent tool for reducing screen time and increasing productivity.
Smart Key
There are currently Smart rings that can function as a Smart key. Consider the Token Ring. Token Ring has an optical sensor that allows you to unlock your house, automobile, or business without needing a standard physical key, access card, or badge.
Take the Smart Ring off your finger locks or stops access. It makes for an excellent security system since no one else will be able to enter your house, vehicle, business, gym, or anything else to which it is linked. HID SEOS digital access systems are compatible with Token Ring.
Transit Pass
With tap-to-pay card reader terminals at transit gates, a spate of NFC Smart rings may act as a travel permit or ticket for public transportation.
These Smart rings are stored-value cards (SVC), which keep the monetary value of the trip fund easily accessible without the need for third-party credit or debit account support or a network connection. K Ring is in charge of this for all TfL trains and many city-wide National Rail services.
What Are The Advantages Of A Smart Ring?
The benefits of a Smart ring are due to its small size and lightweight. You’ll be able to comfortably wear it, and you won’t have to take your Ring off unless you’re wearing gloves.
Making a contactless payment eliminates the need to search your handbag or pocket. It’ll be perfectly on your finger. And you won’t need to wear a big wristband to monitor your sleeping heart rate. You may forget about your Ring as long as the fit is comfortable.
But, believe it or not, one of the key benefits of being used to advertise Smart rings is to lessen the interruption of technology in daily life. Rings that connect with your phone may alert you to specific alerts unobtrusively. Keep your phone in your pocket and you won’t need to check it often.
Why Do You Need A Smart Ring?
A Smart ring is a good item to have if you want to enhance your productivity and simplify your everyday life. You may take ultimate control of your lifestyle depending on the quality of the Smart Ring you purchase.
If you want to improve your health and fitness, alternatives with progress monitoring tools for heart rate and blood-oxygen levels are incredible resources. These rings function similarly to smartwatches in that they measure your pulse before, during, and after a workout and provide you with tailored data.
These are usually reserved for higher-quality, and hence more costly, solutions. A conventional Smart ring is as ideal for most individuals seeking a simple piece of jewellery that will enrich their daily lives and make paying for products, unlocking their phones, and getting messages faster.
These rings will reduce the need for you to carry many of the ordinary goods that would clog your jacket, backpack, or jeans pockets. Instead, you may configure the Smart Ring to store information such as payment or debit card information, as with Google, Apple, or Android Pay, as well as codes or settings that allow entry to your house, vehicle, or office building.
This convenience will save you from misplacing or forgetting stuff around the house. Just remember to put it on before you go.
Smart Rings are a good alternative for anyone searching for a sleek overall appearance while yet having full control over everything they experience since they are smaller and less invasive when compared to other smart devices.
Conclusion
Smart Rings are now a rare gem. But, based on what we’ve seen thus far, Smart rings are worth a go. It’s an exciting wearable device that will benefit many users, from health and fitness lovers to everyday travellers to Smart shoppers.
Smart Rings have entered the mainstream, but only in a few areas. With the arrival of larger IT businesses, it won’t be long until the Smart ring sector takes off and reaches the top of the consumer market.
