Communications of the ACM
The Future of Wearables: 'Women Have Used Earrings for 7,000 Years. We've Just Upgraded the Experience'
Munich, Germany's Nova Audio is both a tech and a jewellery start-up. Its pearl earrings are also earphones, with the freshwater pearl in each drilled through to fit minuscule electronics.
Credit: Nova Audio
Earrings and rings are the latest accessories to be outfitted with technology.
German startup Nova Audio has created pearl earrings that double as earphones, with a tiny speaker, two microphones, an antenna, a Bluetooth chip, and a battery.
Nova's Vlad Perianu described the experience as "having a radio on in the background. ... It's a whole new category between jewelry and electronics."
Finnish brand Oura has developed a health-tracking ring that University of California researchers found was able to detect Covid-19 symptoms in wearers who later tested positive.
Jonathan Levine, founder of headphone maker Master & Dynamic, said, "There's a fine line to designing tech wearables, particularly those to be worn on the head like earphones and headphones. If it feels too techie, you've isolated the part of the market interested in design and fashion. If it's too pretty and precious, then you've isolated those wanting something more serious and performance driven."
From Financial Times
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