Fin (now called Neyya) is a BLE enabled smart finger ring that can track the gestures made using your finger. I was able to develop the first few prototypes of this wearable technology while I was the CTO for Fin Robotics. Through this project, I was engaged in intense research around the areas of IMU sensors, embedded systems, gesture tracking algorithms, bluetooth low energy systems, PCB designing and optical finger tracking systems. The product has raised 200,000$ through Indiegogo and was selected as one of the 15 best products by Techcrunch. Some media links: [1] [2] The video presentation at the Techcrunch Hardware Battlefield: (please excuse the size of the module as it was merely a proof of concept model, miniaturized version for the same could be found below)

 

Fin is a truly unique product which is a herald to all future wearable technologies, a testimony as to how small the wearable gadgets are getting. These are the prototypes I prepared for Fin, which was radically scaled down in size through each iteration:

Fin stands apart from other controller devices since it can be used to interface with devices like smartphones, smartTV's, headmounted displays and even your car. It also provides a stress free controlling experience as it only recognizes your natural finger movements, unlike systems like Myo where stressed muscular actions are required or in Kinect/LeapMotion where the user is required to be in the line of sight of the device. The concept video:

 

So how does it Work?

Fin has the capability to identify various gestures made by the user using it's onboard IMU and optical sensors and sends this data via Bluetooth/BLE to the smartdevice. Each gesture is mapped to perform a particular activity on the smartdevice (smartphones/ smartTV's, etc) using softwares and applications that run on the background. For example: swiping your thumb up/down on your index finger could be used to change the volume on your smartdevice, swiping left/right on your palm to change the soundtracks on the device, etc. Some of the many use cases of Fin are: Seeks to eliminate the need for a user to take their phone out of their pockets for simple tasks like answering calls, changing soundtracks, notifications, etc. Could be used while the user's hands are engaged in other activities, like during driving, exercising, etc. Could be used during working out to measure body movements, calories burnt, etc. Could be used to measure irregular sleep patterns. Can be used during gaming to give the user a touch less playing experience, hence utilizing the entire screen for viewing. Fin has enormous potential for the future. Opensource APIs are also going to be released for developers, so that everyone could start making Fin based applications such as for home automation, etc where a swipe of your finger could control the lights in your room , etc.

Presently, the parent company behind the product had rebranded the device to be called as 'Neyya'. Neyya consists of a capacitive touch sensor that can track swipes and other gestures made on it. The rebranding was done since 'Neyya' was not the original product concept and hence owing to the technology shift, the rebranding was done.