Gesture control has come a long way in the past few years, but the vast majority of gesture-controlled devices still carry a fundamental flaw: they still rely on cameras. The effectiveness of these systems hinges on extremely sophisticated gesture-recognition algorithms, which often have detection problems at large distances or varying light conditions.
To solve this problem, Ring takes a different approach. This little gizmo fits onto your finger and uses an array of accelerometers to detect movements you make with your hand. Then, after connecting the Ring to another device via Bluetooth, gestures like pointing, swiping, and drawing shapes or letters in the air can be used to perform a variety of different actions.
Taking photos, controlling your phone’s music player, posting a tweet, turning on your TV — it’s all at your fingertips (literally!) with Ring. The device pairs with any device that supports Bluetooth 4.0, and the accompanying smartphone app allows you to create and configure your own custom gestures.
We got a chance to fiddle with Ring for a few minutes at CES 2015, and while we didn’t pair it to our phones directly, the demo we saw made it seem pretty snappy and responsive. Gestures were recognized quickly and accurately, and the corresponding action was executed right away.
The only drawback is that it’s really bulky. In comparison to most other wearables, it’s tiny, but for a ring that’s intended to be worn on your finger, it’s massive — so big that it might be bothersome to wear for extended periods of time.
Still, it definitely beats flailing your arms at a camera, hoping and praying that your gesture will be recognized.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.