This Wearable Ring and Wristband Combination Is Able to Recognize 22 Gestures

Just about everyone in the tech industry agrees that gesture control has a lot of potential for interacting with our mobile devices. But, what we often disagree on is the best way to implement that gesture control. Some prototypes rely on tracking your hand and fingers themselves, while others use wearable sensors. This new design from researchers at Georgia Tech takes the latter approach using sensors worn on a finger and wrist.

The system, called FingerPing, works by monitoring acoustic chirps emitted by the finger wearable with the wristband. In the future, the sensors in the wristband could be integrated into a smartwatch, and the finger wearable could be a simple ring. Unlike the prototype device, that potential future design might be unobtrusive, and even fashionable.

FingerPing relies on the way the acoustic chirps echo through the bones in your hand and wrist. When the finger wearable emits a chirp with your finger in an extended position, it creates a specific echo that is then picked up by the sensor in the wristband. That exact same acoustic chirp then creates a different — and recognizable — echo when your finger is in a curled position.

In total, FingerPing can reliably detect 22 unique gestures. That’s enough specific gestures to allow control commands like playing or stopping music, and even advanced interactions like T9 text input.

While FingerPing is just a prototype and proof of concept for now, the components used in the device are inexpensive enough that it would be practical enough to build into smartwatches of the future.