[Cyborg] Pulse ring

[Eric Boyd]

Nice concept!

The Pulse Sensor doesn't work very well (you have to fiddle for minutes 
to get a good reading, which doesn't last), but they say directly that 
they just did that for an experiential prototype. Presumably for the 
real ring they will do some real engineering. Also, did you see, Pulse 
Sensor released a new version, with amplifier, today?  Anyone gonna 
order one of those and try it out?

http://pulsesensor.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/pulse-sensor-amped

Back to the ring, the hard part of wearables like they are going for is 
the battery.  I can't see how they could make the product at all like 
the concept art.  More realistically it'll be a kind of signet ring, 
like the prototype but smaller and more finished.  It looks to me like 
for the prototype, they didn't even try to make it standalone - all 
those wires probably head of to power supply and driving circuit.  But 
it's totally possible to build electronic rings with real sensors - I've 
been doing it.  Adding a radio is gonna really put a strain on the 
battery life though - the LEDs alone make it challenging.

And I do think the fat part of your finger is gonna be a pretty good 
place for doing optical heart-rate sensing - good perfusion, and if the 
ring is sized properly, good mechanical grip.  Should be easier than 
e.g. the wrist. They do mention a big challenge for them though - 
holding things in your hand is likely to really mess up the signal.  So 
that's a pretty big downside, especially if you are targeting bike riders...

Does electricfoxy actually sell anything?  I've never met Jennifer. 
Supposedly she lives in Seattle, which is a super cool city!

Interestingly, there is a comment on that page from November 2011, so it 
seems like maybe that page is actually fairly old?  Perhaps she was 
inspired around the time the Pulse Sensor came out...

Eric




On 9/25/12 2:08 PM, Jean Rintoul wrote:
> mood ring!
> http://www.electricfoxy.com/projects/pulse-stay-in-your-zone/
>
> Anyone know any more about this product? When I tried the pulsesensor, 
> I wasn't particularly impressed... but maybe I did it wrong. How well 
> do you think this will work?
>
> Jean
>
>
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> Cyborg mailing list
> Cyborg at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/cyborg

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