Apple Quietly Preparing Smart Ring: What To Expect

Amazon surprised the whole tech world with the introduction of the Echo Loop, a smart ring device that allows users to interact with Alexa and get the digital assistant to do things just like how it can be commanded through other Alexa-powered devices like the Echo Dot. The thing is, it is now done via a ring that is worn on a finger and can be taken anywhere unlike a smart home speaker.

While some might think that Amazon was the first company to think about inventing a smart ring, it actually isn't. Weeks before the Echo Loop was introduced, Cupertino tech giant Apple, maker of innovative devices such as the Apple Watch and iPhone, filed a patent for a smart ring that allows users to do things with their electronic devices even without touching them.

The patent, which is a continuation of other patents Apple filed months ago in October and years back in 2015, describes a “Wearable Electronic Ring Computing Device.” This smart ring contains electronic components such as a processor, power supply, wireless transceiver, and microphone.

It also contains components that will inform the user that it is working, such as haptic actuators that can provide force feedback. Apple Insider noted in an October report that this smart ring is basically an Apple Watch that's smaller in size and worn on a finger. It can monitor a user's movements, serve as a fitness tracker, and transmit data to a Mac to unlock it just like how the Apple Watch does.

Patently Apple noted that according to the patent that was recently published, Apple is working to give the smart ring the ability to learn and recognize hand gestures and pointing gestures. The smart ring will also have the ability to “change the output of a respective external electronic device,” such as “changing a sound volume.”

Furthermore, the patent also reveals that the smart ring will be able to control the “temperature output” and change the “brightness of one or more lights.” These descriptions seem to indicate that Apple's smart ring will do more than just interact with an iPhone or iPad – it will allow users to control electronic sound equipment and other smart home appliances as well.