Don Wood – MessageToEagle.com – The AuraRing is a combination of wristband and ring that can detect the precise location of someone’s index finger and continuously track hand movements.
It’s a cutting-edge technology that turns your hand into a virtual reality avatar that mimics what you’re doing with their actual hand.
AuraRing can allow someone to have a virtual reality avatar hand that mimics what they’re doing with their actual hand. Credit: Dennis Wise/University of Washington
The ring emits a signal that can be picked up on the wristband, which can then identify the position and orientation of the ring and the finger it’s attached to.
The one and only ring you’ll ever need was developed by researchers at the University of Washington.
Using uses magnetic fields, the AuraRing can still track the hand even when the person wearing the device is out of sight, such as when a user is on a crowded bus and can’t reach their phone.
AuraRing is composed of a coil of wire wrapped 800 times around a 3D-printed ring. A current running through the wire generates a magnetic field, which is picked up by three sensors on the wristband. Based on what values the sensors detect, the researchers can continuously identify the exact position of the ring in space. From there, they can determine where the user’s finger is located.
The ring in AuraRing (left) is composed of a coil of wire wrapped 800 times around a 3D printed ring. The AuraRing wristband (right) uses three sensors (one shown here: white box in the lower left) to pick up the magnetic field generated by the ring. Credit: Dennis Wise/University of Washington
“To have continuous tracking in other smart rings you’d have to stream all the data using wireless communication. That part consumes a lot of power, which is why a lot of smart rings only detect gestures and send those specific commands,” said co-lead author Farshid Salemi Parizi, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering.
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“But AuraRing’s ring consumes only 2.3 milliwatts of power, which produces an oscillating magnetic field that the wristband can constantly sense. In this way, there’s no need for any communication from the ring to the wristband.”
Scientists’ intention was to develop a tool that captures the fine-grain manipulation we do with our fingers – not just a gesture or where your finger’s pointed, but something that can track your finger completely.
With continuous tracking, AuraRing can pick up handwriting, potentially for short responses to text messages.
“We can also easily detect taps, flicks or even a small pinch versus a big pinch,” Salemi Parizi said.
“This gives you added interaction space. For example, if you write ‘hello,’ you could use a flick or a pinch to send that data. Or on a Mario-like game, a pinch could make the character jump, but a flick could make them super jump.”
The technology behind the AuraRing is complex, but the device is very useful for more than games and smartphones.
For example, AuraRing could detect the onset of Parkinson’s disease by tracking subtle hand tremors or help with stroke rehabilitation by providing feedback on hand movement exercises,” said senior author Shwetak Patel, a professor in both the Allen School and the electrical and computer engineering department.
It can be very useful to give to people who suffer from Alzheimer’s and tend to get lost. The AuraRing can help family members to track the location of their loved one.
Written by Don Wood – MessageToEagle.com Staff