Gemtronic: A smart ring that wears its screen like a gem
Gemtronic is a smart ring that turns a tiny round LCD screen into a new kind of gem. It is meant to be read two ways at once: as avant-garde jewelry, and as a piece of electronics that fits real function into extremely tight space.
Inside the ring is an ESP32-C3 with a motion sensor and a microphone, driving an 18 mm round display. That is enough for gesture controls, mini-games, a digital pet that grows when you walk, and Bluetooth pairing with your phone.
Live render from aspirium.co. Drag the ring to turn it.
What it does
Screen Saver. Digital Ruby, emerald and amber drawn from real rings, and dragon/cat eyes follow your hand movement.
Clock. Time, date and the day's weather, set over Wi-Fi while it charges.
Gesture Control: Flick or press. Tip the ring to move through the menus and flick it in the air to pick, or use its two buttons.
Tilt to steer. Roll your finger and the pet moves; the motion sensor is the controller. It is how you play Starship.
Blind-box pet. One of five companions hatches from the egg, then changes form three more times.
Walk to grow. Steps feed it. With an ordinary day's walking it hatches in four or five days.
Sound-Visual Interaction. Play music near it and the stars on the screen strike with the beat.
Bluetooth. Pairs with your phone from its own Bluetooth settings, no app needed. Phone notifications are next.
How it is built
Every screen and animation is drawn by one renderer, shared between the firmware and a desktop preview. The preview shows the exact 160 × 160 frame the ring will show, pixel for pixel, so a design can be judged on a laptop before it is flashed.
Memory is the tightest constraint. The frame lives in an 8-bit indexed buffer of 25,600 bytes, converted to full colour one row at a time on its way to the panel, instead of a full-colour frame twice that size.
The first board puts the processor, screen, battery and charging on a single piece, to get a small batch of working test rings into hands quickly. A version with a display module that detaches from interchangeable ring shells is planned for the next board.
Visit aspirium.co for pre-orders and development updates.
