Project
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Connect Ring
Year
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2023
Technology
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IR, accelerometer, gyroscope, BLE
Type
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Collaborative Industrial Design
Category
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Wearable Technology — Concept
Interaction
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Surface trackpad + per-finger mapping
Connect Ring is a wearable mouse concept that turns any hard surface into a trackpad — worn on the finger like a ring, used like a mouse.
The idea behind it is simple: remove the desk from the equation. The ring tracks movement and touch across any surface using infrared LEDs and an accelerometer, translating gesture into cursor control. A gyroscope handles angular motion. A force sensor registers clicks. Everything communicates via BLE and charges inductively — no cables, no dock, no fixed surface required.
Ideation Sketches
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The form had one constraint: it needs to be worn comfortably on a finger for extended periods. That rules out most wearable tech conventions — no clamps, no sensors that dig into the skin, no bulk. The sketches explored how to house the full electronic stack within a ring profile while keeping the form minimal and the interaction natural.
The concept also allows users to assign functions to individual fingers — turning the surface they're working on into a soft keyboard. The desk becomes an extension of the computer, not just a place to put it.
The electronic stack
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The ring houses a full sensor and communication stack within a wearable form factor:
Infrared LEDs — surface detection and proximity sensing Accelerometer — movement speed and direction
Gyroscope — angular motion and rotation
Force sensor — touch and click registration
Microcontroller (BLE) — wireless communication
Battery + management chip — power regulation
Inductive charging coil — wireless recharge
Sizing
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Connect Ring is available in three sizes — 7, 9, and 11 — based on an internal sizing system rather than standard ring measurements in mm.
Connect Ring is a concept for what input devices could look like when the surface itself becomes the interface — not a peripheral you carry, but a tool you wear.
A collaborative project with Nikhil Srikrishnan.