“Talk to the Hand” has been a popular saying in media culture since the 1992 sitcom Martin, but now, more than a decade later, that bit of slang might just become reality. Holding your pinky and thumb apart, or the Shaka sing, has also been used to indicate ‘call me’, and once again, you can actually call someone that way now too. Â BCK’s Color Rings concept features two rings that slide over the thumb and pinky so that you can literally answer the phone by holding your hand up to your mouth and ear. Sound cooky? Well it is just a little bit, but the technology is already here and you can actually buy it for less than you might think.
Color Rings
Color Rings are actually a concept design but not in production. They include two very bright rings (one pink one yellow). The pinky ring is yellow and includes a built in microphone so that you can talk into it. The thumb ring is pink and includes a speaker that you can hold up to your ear. That way when you do the Shaka sign, you’re not just saying ‘call me’ you’re actually calling someone. Â The rings sync to a phone via Bluetooth so that you can answer, talk to, and hang up right from the rings. The only downside is that no you cannot text, unless they build in some massively good voice recognition and reading software.
While the concept photo could have used more work, the point is clearly illustrated. Notably BCK put much more work into the original design of the rings.
Although they do actually look very real, they are most likely too bright and colorful for most people to consider wearing them as everyday accessories. For example, orange and pink do not go well with most outfits, and the average guy might be embarrassed to be caught wearing a pink thumb ring. However, as a concept, the Color Rings are still pretty cool.
How Can You Get It?
Unfortunately the BCK Color Rings aren’t yet available, but the technology is, and for just $69.99. The rings themselves have all sorts of issues like the fact that most people wear different ring sizes, and that they aren’t really very fashionable. Â Instead, the technology is available as a pair of touch screen compatible gloves. The gloves are available in grey and black, and are made of conductive fibers. The built in Bluetooth works up to 15 feet away from your main device, so you won’t ever have to grab your phone, or take it out of a pocket.
While mostly useless on summer days, you can probably imagine how great it would be to not have to take your gloves off, and not have to grub around in your pockets to find your phone on a very cold day. The battery life actually isn’t bad either, with an estimated 20 hours of talk time, or 10 days of standyby. Since they work with iOS, Windows, and Android, they might be a good option to check out.
While not quite rings, the idea of having bluetooth gloves is still pretty cool.
