Wearable Ring Interface for Multi-Device Gesture and NFC Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users often need to switch between multiple electronic devices throughout the day to access different functionalities, such as health monitoring and remote control, which can be cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
A ring device worn on the user's finger that integrates near-field communications, inertial measurement units, and sensors to emulate tags, detect gestures, and provide voice input, allowing seamless control of multiple devices using a combination of pointing, voice, and gaze inputs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users switch between multiple electronic devices to access different functionalities, then device functionality access is improved, but user convenience and time efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The ring device serves as an intermediary control interface between the user and multiple electronic devices. It contains near-field communications circuitry that can emulate different NFC tags to control various devices, and includes sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer) to detect gestures and determine device locations. This intermediary approach allows users to control multiple devices through a single wearable interface rather than physically switching between devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring device is designed with multi-functionality to control various types of electronic devices including media players, televisions, set-top boxes, and other equipment. The near-field communications circuitry can emulate multiple NFC tags with different functions, and the gesture recognition system can interpret different gestures for different control operations, making a single device capable of replacing multiple control interfaces.
2Adaptability or versatility
If users constantly switch between electronic devices, then access to different device features is improved, but time efficiency and productivity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The ring device performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring multiple NFC tags with different device control profiles and pre-mapping device locations in the environment. When a user approaches a device or performs a gesture, the ring device can immediately initiate the appropriate control function without requiring the user to manually switch devices or navigate through menus, thus saving time and improving productivity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a ring device integrates multiple sensors and communication circuitry, then device control capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ring device merges multiple functional components into a single compact wearable unit. The near-field communications circuitry, inertial measurement unit (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer), sensors, and control logic are integrated into one device that can be worn on the finger. This consolidation provides comprehensive device control capability while maintaining a simple wearable form factor, avoiding the complexity of managing multiple separate control devices.
Data Source
AI summary
A ring device may be worn on a user's finger. The ring device may include near-field communications circuitry for emulating near-field communications tags based on biometric data and/or for logging health-related actions such as medicine intake. An inertial measurement unit in the ring device may detect pointing and other gestures for controlling equipment. A microphone may detect voice input and other sounds that can be used to infer the context in which the ring device is operating. Motion data from a first device may be used to determine a gaze direction towards a second device so that ring input may be directed towards the second device. A map of locations of different devices that can be controlled by the ring device may be generated using a combination of pointing input, voice input, gaze input, and/or touch input.