Talon is a smart ring for gaming

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Talon is a smart ring that allows you to play games and control apps with simple gestures.

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25 years ago, Nintendo unveiled the Power Glove. While the wearable accessory never lived up to its hype, one San Jose startup has developed something a bit less bulky and much more intuitive: a controller in the form of a smart ring.

No more than four millimeters thick, Titanium Falcon’s Talon is equipped with a 32-bit MCU at its core, a nine-axis motion sensor and connects to all smart devices over Bluetooth. When paired with a gaming console, computer, smart TV or mobile device, the wearable is able to convert a player’s finger gestures into actual commands. This can range from steering an invisible wheel for racing games, swinging an imaginary racquet for a Wii-like tennis match, or waving through a main menu in an application.

“Utilizing a real-time three-dimensional space, the Talon simply outperforms the on-screen two-dimensional controller and allows users to use quick and easy waves and gestures to control the application,” its creators explain.

Talon provides a hands-free user experience like no other, enabling wearers to play games from just about anywhere and on-the-go. What’s more, the ring is equipped with two action buttons (similar to the AB buttons found on more traditional consoles) that provide additional control options, such as jumping, firing and what not. Aside from using motion for input, the latest prototype boasts a battery life of around 12 hours before needing to be recharged.

While this may not be first so-called smart ring we’ve come across, it’s pretty awesome nevertheless. Not only is it sleek and stylish, its inner portion of is fitted with soft skin-feel silicone gels that makes for a comfortable yet snug fit. Once available, Talon will come in four different sizes (small, medium, large and extra large). Until then, head over to its Indiegogo page to learn more. Delivery is slated for June 2016.

ŌURA is a smart ring that will help you sleep and perform better

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ŌURA is a ring-sized wellness computer that helps you sleep and perform better, without the bulkiness and distractions of other wearables. 

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“The ŌURA ring may well be the first sleep tracker that works. I met the founder, and backed their Kickstarter,” Tim O’Reilly recently tweeted in response to the revolutionary wellness computer’s newly-launched campaign.

Although health monitors have gotten smaller, more precise and sleeker over the last couple of years, they still tend to be a bit too bulky for unobtrusive 24/7 wear, especially during sleep. So what’s more convenient than sporting a bracelet around your wrist? A ring on your finger, of course!

With a form factor like ŌURA, the device can fit snugly against your skin and accurately capture the body signals necessary for measuring and interpreting your sleep habits, physical activity and other performance-related indicators. What’s more, you’ll notice that the wearable gadget lacks a display and buttons, removing unnecessary distractions from our lives. Instead, the unisex ring communicates to an accompanying mobile app via Bluetooth.

ŌURA can automatically detect when you’re asleep. During your slumber, the ring analyzes the quality of your rest and recovery by keeping tabs on your heart rate, respiration, body temperature and movement. When awake, it monitors the duration and intensity of your activities, and the time you spend sitting down.

Its app then collates and visualizes this data to identify patterns between your sleep quality and daily routine. By understanding how well you slept and refueled, it can determine your readiness to perform and help you adjust the intensity and duration of your day’s activities accordingly. Aside from that, the water and scratch-proof ceramic ring offers personalized recommendations on how to maximize your active periods and improve upon your nighty shut-eye.

“The ŌURA ring works without demanding your attention, or distracting you and your lifestyle. The ring knows when you go to sleep, and when you wake up, when you are active, and when you are sitting. It uploads data to your phone automatically,” the Finnish startup writes.

Should you not have your phone, the ring can still function as a standalone computer with its own temporary memory, which can store data for up to three weeks. And once your mobile device is nearby, ŌURA will sync back up.

In terms of hardware, the ring is built around an ARM Cortex-M0 core and features Bluetooth Smart connectivity. Its 40mAh Li-ion battery boasts a life of about three days, and can be easily refueled by placing it inside its just as aesthetically-pleasing charging station. Simply drop the ring inside when it’s running low and it’ll juice up in an hour.

Even more, the data generated through ŌURA can be merged with other health-related information. In fact, the team is already collaborating with We Are Curious, which allows users to track and chart multiple data streams at once, including daily consumption (caffeine, alcohol, sugar), sleep aids you might be trying (valerian, melatonin, acupuncture) and other factors in your environment (barometric pressure, CO2, pollen count).

Sound like a wearable health monitor you’d like to have? Hurry over to its Kickstarter campaign, which has already surpassed its $100,000 goal. Units are expected to ship in November 2015.

Fujitsu’s smart ring will let you write in midair

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Fujitsu Laboratories has developed a lightweight, compact wearable device that makes it easy to draw letterforms in the air.

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Though it seems wrist-adorned and head-mounted displays (HMDs) are all the buzz as of late, Fujitsu is hoping to change that with their newly-revealed smart ring that not only allows for motion control, but in-air handwriting as well. Sure, HMDs are already helping to provide a hands-free workplace for operators, however they don’t make it particularly easy to select displayed information, input figures, jot down memos on workplace conditions, or perform other necessary tasks.

Fujitsu’s latest innovation lets wearers trace letters using their fingertip, while a built-in motion sensor translates those movements into usable characters. By “writing” in the air, users can then select menu options or make notes on photos that they take in the field — something which could certainly also come in handy during a tradeshow or while on-the-go.

“By applying proprietary technology that corrects the letterform tracings, Fujitsu has been able to improve character recognition accuracy, enabling recognition of everything from numbers to Chinese characters.”

Aside from its motion sensor — which features an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer — a BLE module, a status display LED, an operation button, a sensor-processing MCU, and a battery (capable of lasting roughly eight hours) are all packed into the tiny device. In addition, there’s an NFC tag reader embedded inside that will enable a user to receive instructions with a simple tap. The company believes that as data from the object to be worked on can be easily selected in a hands-free manner, the performance of maintenance and other tasks is expected to be more efficient.

While still merely a prototype, Fujitsu is currently testing the real-world usability of the device with aspirations of practical implementation by early next year. Explore the ring in more detail here.