One Ring to Rule Them All

No longer just confined to the realm of the technophile, a plethora of electronic devices have made their way into our homes and lives. And these computers, tablets, televisions, phones, e-books, and game consoles all have their own input devices to keep track of and learn to use. How great would it be if a single input device could control them all?

That is exactly what the device called Snowl aims to do. The Kickstarter campaign is offering up a sleek, ring-based wearable that can act as a air mouse, a gesture recognition device, or a joystick.

Weighing just five grams, the gadget is worn towards the end of the index finger such that the thumb is able to interact with the touchpad when in air or gesture mouse mode. The battery has an eleven hour life between chargings for all day use. The included charging cradle also serves as a base for using the device in joystick mode.

Snowl can connect to a wide range of electronic devices wirelessly via Bluetooth Low Energy. It has a convenient handoff feature that can quickly switch the device it is controlling with a simple gesture.

As an air mouse, Snowl is worn on the finger, and natural movements of the hand replace traditional mouse controls. Pressing on the three segment touchpad switches the device into gesture mouse mode, which can detect eight gestures with the help of a three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer and magnetometer that provide sensing with nine degrees of freedom. A machine learning gesture recorder application is available to teach Snowl customized gestures. When placed in the cradle, Snowl works much like a traditional joystick.

Snowl looks great in the demo videos, but we will have to wait for feedback from real users to know if this ring will really be the one that can rule them all.