In the wide world of crowd-funding unicorns, smart rings have been hustling for the top of the heap. Among them is Ring, a gesture device that promised to let you someday control your own home with a series of arcane finger wags. I just saw it in action and seems like it works but god damn does it look dumb.
Ring works by pairing to your phone, at which point you can use the Ring app and a series of pre-programmed or custom gestures to do things like call an Uber to your location, or turn on and off smart appliances by hooking them up to the Ring Hub. I didn’t have a chance to try gestures with a paired unit, but I saw a few of Rings’ folks showing it off. They made it look surprisingly capable; a lot better than some of the piss-poor reviews that have been floating around.
Of course that doesn’t change the fact that the ring itself is big and gross and ugly as sin, a high price to pay for such specific functionality. Even if it works perfectly, it’s still Google Glass for your hands. It wasn’t 1000 per cent uncomfortable when I kept my hand loose, but it definitely got in the way when I tried to compress my fingers or make a fist. And I mean just look at how much that thing sticks out.
Ring says the battery life for the gadget is approximately 18 days, which is better than a smartwatch but still awfully often to charge your ring. And that’s not to mention other little caveats like the fact that Ring’s minimum operating temperature is listed as a balmy 50 degrees Fahrenheit. But for anyone who wants to throw money out the door and hope it makes the future happen, Ring will be available this March and pre-orders start this week for $US270.
I’m all for weird shit but man I am not sure I’m ready for a future that looks like this:
