In a new patent filed by Samsung, it appears that the company is planning on making a smart ring that could control various smartphone, TV and home automation system features directly from your finger.
One use of a smart ring (pictured above) could be your smartphone recognizing the ring on your finger, then displaying a contextually-aware menu that shows functions built into the ring along with other icons listing functions possible to control with the ring. These other functions, as the image above suggests, could include the TV, radio, lights, blinds, and any other device connected to your smart home. This means that you could go all Matilda-style on your blinds and wave your hand up in the air to let in the sunshine. Or you could point your finger at your TV and turn it on, like a magician.
However this sounds like an original idea, Samsung isn’t the first to file a patent on a smart ring. Back in October (over on our previous site), a report emerged that Apple filed for a patent on their own smart ring with a touch pad/screen, haptic feedback, and a microphone for dictating commands.
Other companies have also filed patents for smart rings, so this could indeed be the future of wearable technology. One differentiator between Samsung’s ring and other company’s rings could be the integration of social networks such as Facebook possibly found in Samsung’s, which could then lead to endless possibilities. It’s unclear how that integration would work, but in time it may become clearer.
What would you like to see Samsung (or anyone for that matter) load into their smart ring? Leave a comment below with your thoughts!
