Cyber Monday Sale! 50% Off All Access

With Bluetooth Ring, Control Your World With a Finger Twirl One of the latest wearable tech gadgets on the SXSW tradeshow floor lets you use gestures to text, shop and more.

By Jacob Hall

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

kickstarter.com

Smart devices are great – if you've got a hand free to operate them.

Enter the Ring, one of very few wow-factor gadgets on the SXSW Tradeshow floor in Austin this year. This wearable input device lets you write texts or make payments, all with a twirl of your finger using gesture recognition technology.

Its purpose is to create a shortcut to daily tasks with simple hand movements. Using the Ring, letters drawn in the air can spell out texts, character by character. Incoming transmissions and alerts are signaled by vibrations and LED lights.

The Ring is the brainchild of Takuro Yoshida, chief executive officer of Logbar, Inc., and got its start as the winner of the TechCrunch Tokyo Startup Battle in 2013. Today the device is being funded through Kickstarter and has raised more than $650,000, doubling its $250,000 goal. A public release is set for July 2014.

Jacob Hall is a writer living and working in Austin, Texas. He writes about movies, books, games and technology.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

'Something Previously Impossible': New AI Makes 3D Worlds Out of a Single Image

The new technology allows viewers to explore two-dimensional images in 3D.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Side Hustle

She Started a Side Hustle That Earned More Than $1 Million in Year 1: 'Manifest Your Best Life'

Nadia Liu Spellman, founder and CEO of Dumpling Daughter, wanted to honor her parents' success.

Business News

'I Stand By My Decisions': A CEO Is Going Viral For Firing Almost All of the Company's Employees — Here's Why

The Musicians Club CEO Baldvin Oddsson fired 99 workers at once over Slack for missing a morning meeting. But there's a catch.

Franchise

Subway's CEO Steps Down Amid a Major Transition for the Sandwich Giant

John Chidsey will step down at the end of 2024, marking the close of a transformative five-year tenure.