How Does a Smart Ring Work?

Smart rings are the future of wearable technology. It may not be as popular today as its peers, like smartwatches and earbuds, but given its ingenious design, the prospects for this finger-worn technology look promising.

The rise of the smart ring industry, centring on startups, is protracted. Smart rings have been around for 10 years; we hope the industry’s progress will be taken to the next level.

How Does a Smart Ring Work?

Smart ring devices can be used for a variety of applications. The most common use you see on the market today is in the health and fitness category.

However, other practical applications include digital payments, online security, and access control. As the smart ring market matures, more use cases will emerge.

This section will look at some common practical uses of smart rings. Most smart rings don’t have a single feature. For example, you can track your sleeping habits and daily activities with one smart call Ring.

Other smart rings can do both in addition to other functions such as contactless payments and online security.

Futures of Smart Ring

1. Health and wellness management

Health and wellness are categories that many smart rings are doing well. This smart Ring can use more sophisticated technology to track health parameters such as heart rate, blood oxygenation (SpO2), blood pressure, and glucose levels.

Meanwhile, some smart rings can measure a user’s stress level via Electrodermal Activity (EDA), the same criterion used in polygraph tests to assess emotion and cognition through the skin.

2. Fitness tracking/Sleep monitoring

Fitness tracking and sleep tracking are common features of smart ring devices. The fitness smart ring can monitor your daily activities, including steps taken, distance covered while walking, and calories burned.

On the other hand, the Sleep Tracking Smart Ring tracks your sleep patterns, including how long you sleep, what interruptions you sleep, and how long you spend in different sleep cycles.

This allows the Smart Ring to recommend how the user can adjust their body according to their circadian rhythm, the person’s 24-hour circadian clock.

Smart rings are primarily popular for sleep monitoring because they are less restrictive and cumbersome than other wearables with sleep tracking, such as smartwatches or wrist-worn fitness bands.

3. Contactless payment

Contactless payment systems are an emerging trend in the smart ring sector, with products like McLEAR and K Ring already paving the way. Contactless Payment Ring allows you to pay with less than a local limit on Visa and MasterCard contactless payment terminals worldwide.

Some banks in countries such as the UK, Japan, France, Netherlands, Russia, and Australia now offer contactless payment rings to their customers for credit and debit payments at Visa and Mastercard-enabled payment terminals.

You don’t need a smartphone or bank account number to make contactless payments; hold the Smart Ring to your point of sale (POS) terminal to complete the transaction.

4. Online Security

Online security is starting to become a real feature of the Smart Ring. Motiv Ring, for example, uses two-factor authentication (2FA) for web sign-in via apps and preset gesture controls. An emerging online security feature of Smart Ring is biometric authentication, which provides a safer way to browse the web than passwords and PINs. Motiv is beta-testing fingerprint scanning and facial recognition as authentication methods.

Biometric authentication is being developed based on a user’s electrocardiogram (ECG) and gait or how a person walks.

Like facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, ECG is much more secure and resilient against hacking, identity theft, phishing, and other malicious attacks.

5. Remote control

Most smart rings can control smartphones and other devices. Whether setting an alarm, receiving a message or call alert, or managing your music, the Smart Ring is a great tool to minimize screen time and increase productivity.

6. Smart key

You now have a smart ring that can act as a smart key. Take the token ring, for example. The Token Ring has an optical sensor inside, allowing you to open your home, car, or office instead of using traditional physical keys, access cards, or badges.

When you remove the smart Ring from your finger, the door locks or access stops. This makes a great security system to ensure no one else can access your home, car, office, gym, or anything connected. Token Ring is compatible with the HID SEOS digital access system.

7. Transit pass

Multiple NFC smart rings can serve as transit tickets or travel passes with a Tap-to-Pay card reader terminal at the transit gate.

These smart rings are essentially store-of-value cards (SVCs), allowing easy use of the monetary value of travel funds without needing third-party support for credit or debit accounts or network connections.

K Ring does this for the Transport for London service and most National Rail services in the city.

Types of smart rings

Several technologies are behind this tiny wearable, including an NFC chip, a sensor, a Bluetooth chip, a battery, a microcontroller, a light, and more.

1. NFC or near field communication: a wireless connection that uses magnetic field induction to facilitate communication between devices within close range when brought a few centimetres more comparable to each other or touched.

This makes NFC-enabled transactions very secure from malicious activity. NFC technology has been around since the 1980s and has been successfully proven in common applications such as smartphones, laptops, transportation cards, access cards, POS terminals, and digital wallets.

2. Sensor: is responsible for tracking the parameters in the smart Ring. Different sensors may be included in the Ring, depending on the features the smart ring brand wants.

The various sensors used in the Smart Ring include heart or pulse monitors (usually infrared or optical), 3-axis accelerometers (to track movements such as walking, running, sleep, etc.), gyroscopes (to detect movement and balance), and EDA sensors (stress levels). For tracking emotions, emotions, and cognition, including

3: Bluetooth: is required to synchronize the Smart Ring’s data collected by the sensor with the smartphone app that allows your Smart Ring brands to deliver reports & recommendations in a more user-friendly format.

Some smart rings provide raw data based on what the sensors record. Other more sophisticated Smart Rings analyze that data to provide personalized recommendations to users.

What is the difference between NFC and RFID?

RFID stands for radio frequency identification, a one-way method of communication over various distances.

NFC is a version with two-way communication. NFC is not completely contactless and generally requires devices to be within a few inches of each other.

Smart Ring helping guide 2022

How do I connect the smart Ring to my phone?

Go to Settings -> Wireless & networks (More) -> Toggle NFC. Next, go to Settings -> Security -> Smart Lock.

You will need to verify yourself with an existing code or swipe method.

Then go to Trusted Devices -> Add Trusted Device -> NFC.

How to use NFC on iPhone?

NFC functions differ depending on the iPhone model. As of iOS 14, the “NFC Tag Reader” feature is available by default to all users of iPhone 7 and later. So, if you own an iPhone 7 or later, you no longer need a third-party app to read NFC tags.

You can turn on this feature by tapping the NFC button in the Control Center and triggering an action by holding your iPhone close to an NFC tag.

If the button doesn’t appear on your screen, you may need to add it to your Control Center. Proceed as follows:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Then select the “Control Center” option.
3. Scroll down, then tap the green + button to the left of “NFC Tag Reader”.
4. Add NFC Tag Reader to iPhone Control Center.

Meanwhile, iPhone 2nd generation models have a so-called ‘background tag reading‘ function. So you can automatically read NFC tags as soon as your iPhone screen turns on without starting the NFC tag reader first.

The iPhone then looks for that signal in the background. When a tag is detected, a notification appears on the display, prompting the user to open the item in the corresponding NFC app.

Note: As of iOS 13 and iPhone 7, you can no longer read NFC tags but also write tags using the NFC app. Users can also create tags within these apps and associate them with actions.

How do you use an NFC ring on Android?

Go to Settings -> Wireless & networks (More) -> Toggle NFC. Next, go to Settings -> Security -> Smart Lock.

You will need to verify yourself with an existing code or swipe method.

Then go to Trusted Devices -> Add Trusted Device -> NFC.

How do I remove an NFC tag?

Here’s how to disable NFC: Open Settings > Connected Devices.

Some Android phones have an NFC option in the system tray menu at the top of the screen.

Turn off the NFC toggle switch.

Are Smart Rings Worth It?

At this point, the smart Ring is a diamond. But judging from what we’ve seen, the Smart Ring is worth a try. It is a promising wearable technology that will benefit many users, from health and fitness enthusiasts to everyday commuters to smart shoppers.

Smart Ring has achieved mainstream status, but only in select markets. But with the entry of larger tech companies, it won’t be long before others follow suit and eventually push the smart ring segment to the top of the consumer market.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can smart rings do?

Smart rings can provide social feedback to users and engage with the user experience in ways other wearables and mobile devices do not. Some smart rings provide notifications (such as lights or vibrations) to notify you when you receive a text message, phone call, or other information.

What does the Jakcom Smart Ring do?

The Jakcom Smart Ring is a wearable electronic component that can connect an IC/ID/NFC card reader, such as a door lock or cell phone, to unlock, pay, share information or operate some mobile functions.

Is my Smart Ring NFC compatible?

It goes to the NFC support check settings. Under “Wireless & Networks”, tap “More”. You will see the NFC option if your Smart Ring supports NFC. If there is no option, your Smart Ring does not have NFC capability.

How do you use an NFC ring on Android?

NFC-enabled Smart Ring can only read NFC and Passive High-Frequency RFID (HF-RFID). It should read at a very close range (typically a few centimetres). Long-range or other types of RFID/active RFID require an external reader for processing with a mobile device.

Are smart rings safe?

‍In terms of security, NFC smart rings are much safer because they are a technology that requires a close range for a transaction to occur. For added security, the McLEAR Ring has a secure and isolated bank account that is kept securely between your card and merchants making contactless payments.

How do I fix apps not supported by NFC?

There are two ways to solve “There are no supported apps for this NFC tag.” Remove the bank card from the phone case. Turn off the NFC tag.

How is the smart Ring powered?

Like any Bluetooth-enabled device, the smart Ring must be paired with a smartphone. Although Bluetooth is considered a low-power technology, it still requires juice, so the smart Ring must contain a battery that can be charged using a docking station or wireless charging pad.

How do I set up NFC ring payments?

Go to Settings

Wireless & networks (More)

Toggle NFC

Next, go to Settings

Security

Smart Lock.

You will need to verify yourself with an existing code or swipe method. Then go to Trusted Devices and Add Trusted Device into NFC.

Can I pay using the NFC ring?

NFC Contactless Payment Ring The Contactless Payment Ring allows you to pay for small purchases by simply tapping the payment terminal with the NFC Smart Ring. No payment card or PIN code is required.

Should I turn NFC on or off?

If you rarely use NFC, consider turning it off. Since NFC is a very short-range technology, there are not many security issues unless you lose your phone. However, NFC has a real impact on battery life. You should test how much battery life increases when you turn it off.

How much is an NFC ring?

You can pick it up on Amazon for $69.99 (about £54).

Is RFID a form of NFC?

RFID is the process of using radio waves to identify an item uniquely, and NFC is a specialized subset within the family of RFID technologies. In particular, NFC is a high-frequency (HF) RFID variant operating at 13.56 MHz.

Is RFID better than NFC?

RFID is best suited for tracking and locating assets in logistics functions. NFC stands for Near Field Communication. NFC is also based on the RFID protocol. The main difference with RFID is that NFC devices can act as readers and tags (card emulation mode).