An Apple Watch for your finger? New patent for smart ring says it's possible

Amazon has gotten quite ambitious with its wearables, recently announcing two at its 2019 product event, including the Echo Loop – a smart ring which puts Alexa on your finger.

Now it seems that Apple doesn't plan to be left behind, with the Cupertino firm being granted a patent for a "wearable electronic ring computing device". The patent outlines design options and functionality for a device that would wirelessly interact with your iPhone or MacBook.

The proposed Apple Ring (for the lack of a better name) would feature a touchscreen and microphone, house a computer processor, a wireless transceiver and various sensors, and also have its own rechargeable power source.

As an Apple product, it will have Siri built in and, according to the patent, work with hand gestures. So that more or less describes the Apple Watch, just in ring form.

The so-called Apple Ring with display and buttons

How to use Apple Pay
Here's how you can secure your Apple ID
Read more: Apple Arcade review | Apple Music review

Amongst the sensors housed within the Apple Ring would be haptic actuators to provide force feedback to the user. There will also be motion sensors that will be capable of identifying "a writing motion" (so you could potentially be able to respond to messages without reaching for your phone), for page turning (flicking) and a swiping motion for navigating the menu system.

The wearable described will also have biometric sensors for fitness tracking and device security. The wireless transmitter could also unlock another device – like an iPhone – depending on proximity – while also syncing wearer information to the phone.

The patent also describes the proposed smart ring as a device capable of controlling an external device – like an Apple TV or iPad – by drawing directly onto the wearable's small display, although this kind of technology hasn't yet been realised.

Different design ideas for the Apple Ring

No timeline for the Apple Ring has been provided – it's still just a patent, one of many that Apple files each year, with most of them remaining just that: ideas on paper. In fact, Apple filed a similar patent for ring-like device back in 2015, a year before Microsoft filed its own ring-like device.

Amazon, though, has left the starting block already, with the Echo Loop shipping to select paying customers later this year.