Smart ring provides a voice in your ear at the touch of a hand

Record ID: 905479

  • Title: Smart ring provides a voice in your ear at the touch of a hand
  • Date: 4th August 2017
  • Summary: ORIGAMI LABS CO-FOUNDER KEVIN WONG WALKING INTO ROOM WONG PUTTING RING ON HIS FATHER PETER WONG SMART RING BEING PUT ON PETER'S FINGER PETER PUTTING FINGER TOWARDS HIS EAR PETER ASKING FOR PHONE NUMBER USING SMART RING ORII RING ADVERTISING POSTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ORIGAMI LABS TECHNICAL ADVISOR, PETER WONG, SAYING: "As a visually impaired person, I rely on the software on the smartphone to read the icons, the texts to me. So when it comes out like that it actually sometimes causes embarrassment because it's loud and other people can hear it. Can you imagine it reading out your password? That's inconvenient and inappropriate." HONG KONG, CHINA (AUGUST 2, 2017) (REUTERS) ORIGAMI CRANE IN FRONT OF WHITEBOARD WHITEBOARD READING (English) "KICKSTARTER HQ" KEVIN WONG HOLDING MEETING WONG SPEAKING SIGN READING (English): "The makers of Orii" VARIOUS OF ORII RING BEING HELD IN HAND (SOUNDBITE) (English) ORIGAMI LABS CO-FOUNDER KEVIN WONG, SAYING: "Over time the product continued to evolve, especially because this ring we created, what we did was started user testing with normal sighted users there was a lot of interest in the product there as well. So one thing that we discovered was that making screen free tech was more than just about accessibility, but really about making something easier to use for all of us." HONG KONG, CHINA (AUGUST 3, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ORII RINGS HONG KONG, CHINA (AUGUST 2, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ORIGAMI LABS CO-FOUNDER KEVIN WONG, SAYING: "I think a lot of us, you know, we're very well connected, very digital-savvy. We also know that in some way we want to shift our habits towards something else. We want to keep our heads up, we want to be able to stay more in the moment. I think this device represents a different way of using our devices and that's what we call this screen-free revolution." HONG KONG, CHINA (AUGUST 3, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ORII RING PROTOTYPES SILVER ORII RING WOMAN LOOKING AT PHONE TWO WOMEN LOOKING AT PHONE CROSSING STREET WOMEN LOOKING AT PHONE WAITING FOR TRAIN SMARTPHONE IN HAND PEOPLE ON TRAIN LOOKING AT PHONES SMARTPHONE IN HAND PEOPLE SITTING ON TRAIN LOOKING AT PHONES
  • Embargoed: 18th August 2017 10:37
  • Keywords: Wearable technology smart ring smart phone visually impaired accessibility bone conduction
  • Location: HONG KONG, CHINA
  • City: HONG KONG, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Information Technologies / Computer Sciences,Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA0036SQODI3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A voice in your ear at the touch of a hand?
    The Orii ring allows people to take phone calls, handle text messages and interact with a phone's digital assistant, all by transferring sound to a user's ear through bone conduction.
    The wearable device connects to smartphones using Bluetooth.
    The ring, designed by Hong Kong-based start-up Origami Labs, was inspired by Peter Wong, the visually impaired father of the firm's co-founder Kevin Wong.
    "As a visually impaired person, I rely on the software on the smartphone to read the icons, the texts to me," said Peter Wong, who is a technical adviser for the ring.
    A key feature ensures that only the user can hear the information conveyed by the ring.
    "Can you imagine it reading out your password? That's inconvenient and inappropriate," Peter Wong said.
    What began as a Kickstarter project has become the latest example of wearable, screen-free technology.
    "We want to keep our heads up, we want to be able to stay more in the moment," said Kevin Wong, 29, who set up Origami Labs in November 2015 with three friends from university.
    The tech wearable market grew 51 percent in Asia last year, according to consumer research firm GfK. The overall industry is expected to be worth $34 billion globally by 2020, research provider CCS Insight has said.
    The Orii ring is expected to reach the commercial market by February.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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