In the Marvel comics, one of Iron Man’s common enemies is The Mandarin. This villain is a warlord and criminal mastermind set on world domination; he rose to power after stumbling upon a set of Ten Rings. These rings were of alien origin and granted him extraordinary powers – a different power from each ring.
At CES 2024 we’re seeing an increase in the number of tech-enhanced rings. Many are health trackers but have differentiating features. These rings fall under many categories as they specialize in particular tasks. You see where I’m going with this…
CES 2024 Tech Rings
Movano’s Evie Ring
Power: a women-first health tracker
Track health metrics like blood oxygen, heart rate, activity, and menstrual cycles. Simplified app that contextualizes data. Visually appealing. The ring flexes when your fingers are swollen. Coming soon: AI-powered insights. FDA clearance.
Spatial Content Creation
Power: manipulate virtual objects
Used with a Sony Playstation VR headset and a pointer that fits into your hand. Made for professionals working with 3D to overlay virtual objects into physical spaces.
Lotus
Power: controls objects at home by pointing
Sends an IR signal to control devices; no internet, AI, or smart speaker required. Simple tech for easing home accessibility issues
Amazfit Helio Ring
Power: recovery tracker for athletes
Gain greater insight into recovery, training load, sleep quality, general health, mental health. Works with other Amazfit smartwatches. EDA sensor to track stress. AI chatbot. Affordable.
YogiFi Ring
Power: elevate meditation
Made for yogis to track mind, body, breath, yoga asanas, meditation sessions, and sleep.
RingConn
Power: health tracker
Comprehensive health data without a subscription. One-week battery life and portable charging case.
Dcare Ring
Power: health tracking
Learn more about your heart health, sleep, and steps. Another tracking ring for heart health, sleep and steps.
Ultrahuman Ring Air
Power: health tracking
Comfort is the main priority. Keep your sleep, movement, and recovery in check with the smart ring’s data insight.
Palmplug
Power: Whole hand computer input
Not strictly a ring, it attaches sensors to the back of your hand and to each of your fingers. High-fidelity motion capture lets you record and recreate nuanced or delicate hand gestures
Other Rings
In addition to those appearing at CES, here are some other big ones and outliers.
Oura
Power: premium sleep and health tracking
An established player in the health tracking space. It’s expensive and requires a subscription, but is widely regarded as the best health tracker ring.
Go2sleep
Power: sleep tracking
Dedicated to tracking sleep based on heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and heart rate variability. It can wake you up during your lightest sleep phase in the morning, so you won’t feel disoriented when it’s time to get up.
McLear RingPay
Power: contactless payments
Make payments by simply tapping your hand. No need for your wallet or smart phone.
Circular
Power: health tracking and haptics
A holistic health tracker with an easy to understand interface. Offers meditation guidance, haptics to gently wake you, medication tracking, and even swappable skins to change the look of the physical ring.
TheTouch X HB Ring
Power: feel heartbeat of your loved one
You and your partner each wear one and you can feel their heartbeat remotely. Can also play back a prerecorded heartbeat if there are connectivity issues.
TikTok Scrolling Ring
Power: scroll through TikTok
These are remote input devices for your phone. Scroll through TikTok and Instagram, control your music, remote control the phone camera, and more.
NFC & RFID
Power: wireless ID
Simply embedding these common chips can enable many scenarios: ID, digital business card, link storage, key fob replacement, turn on Wi-Fi, make a call, share a contact.
