A smart finger ring could replace a slew of everyday use things such as wallet, house key, health insurance card, and hotel key card in the future. The smart finger ring developed by employing 3D printing process features an integrated RFID chip, which is tamper-resistant, sealed and invisible. In fact, the technology to integrate electronics during 3d printing can be used in other applications also. The multi functional smart ring is developed by a team of researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV.
Therefore, in the instance of unable to find the house key, or if the wallet made its way at the bottom of the shopping bag when needed at the supermarket checkout – a smart ring could put an end to such frantic situations. A RFID tag is concealed inside the ring that can open the smart front door, pay at the checkout, work as a health insurance card to attend a medical appointment, or replace the card key in a hotel. Furthermore, the smart ring could also possibly save medical data such as blood group or drug intolerance on the chip. Thus, in the event of an emergency, the emergency physician would have all necessary information at hand.
In fact, the manufacturing process and the ability to integrate electronics when a component is produced is the amazing feature of the ring. This is possible even at locations inside the component that would otherwise be inaccessible. For example, the inside of the ring.
Meanwhile, in the broad definition, 3D printing is described as a production process. However, it is referred to as “powder bed-based additive manufacturing” in technical jargon.
