The Pixel 9 is packed with AI features as you might expect, and while many are a novelty, I’m finding it intriguing to use the image generator to predict the future.
Smart rings, particularly with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Ring this year, have exploded – not like a Note 7 but in popularity. And when a big player like Sammy gets involved, we start to wonder what rivals from the likes of Google will be like.
There aren’t currently any strong rumours that Google will make its own Pixel smart ring, but it’s certainly a possibility for the future if you ask me. Then it occurred to me, I could ask Google – in its different forms – what it might look like.
So, on the Pixel 9, I put ‘A smart ring made by Google’ into the Pixel Studio app. It’s the onboard image generator similar to DALL.E 3 in ChatGPT and others out there.
This is what I got…
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
The device certainly looks like a smart ring with its seemingly metal finish – perhaps stainless steel – and a darker band around the middle. It looks rather nice and isn’t a copy of what’s already out there like the Oura Ring Gen 3 and co.
What’s particularly interesting is the inclusion of a tiny screen. The three icons are typically unidentifiable for an AI-generated image, although one resembles the ‘G’ Google logo. I could imagine a little display being useful for discretely providing some information or notifying me of something like a phone call.
A second attempt with ‘if Google made a smart ring’ threw up this attractive black design which looks stunning. However, the hairline groove in it would no doubt fill with dirt in a matter of days.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
This mock-up also seems to have a screen of sorts but it’s embedded in a way that would mean you wouldn’t see it when switched off. Like the first design, it could work well even with some basic LED notification system.
A third try to see what a Google smart ring might look like was provided by a chat with Gemini, the new default smart assistant on the Pixel 9 phones. I asked Gemini what the ring might be like and then asked to see it, which provoked Gemini to create an image with Imagen 3.
That’s the same engine as Pixel Studio but conjured up a very different-looking device, as it uses a lot more information to inform it compared to a one-line description. It could well be the most accurate then.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
More in line with Google’s colourful Pixel devices, the smart ring is very simplistic in design but really stands out. I like the black inside and the contrasting exterior with its matt finish.
This pale blue looks very Google and would, I expect, be one of many colours a Pixel ring would be available in.
Something all three designs appear to be missing are the necessary sensors to track things like heart rate and skin temperature. If Google does ever make a smart ring, it’s almost certain to have these.
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