In addition to its application to control devices such as TVs, the technology allows you to track your fingers in virtual reality.
Samsung has patented a ring shaped peripheral through which the user can control through gestures different electronic devices, being one of its applications virtual reality. The patent, which was published last week and entitled: “Electronic device and methods to determine the orientation of the device”, describes an accessory consisting of an inertial sensor and a tactile one that is capable of offering 12 sensitive areas. The process for calculating the position consists of obtaining the orientation data of the inertial sensor, determining the orientation of the capacitive sensor with respect to the adjacent fingers and the previous value, and calculating the absolute orientation of the finger.
Using multiple rings, the user can interact in a virtual environment with their fingers thanks to mapping the position of each, as we can see in the image above. The patent speaks of the absolute orientation of the fingers, although it does not specify anything about whether the positioning of the hand is relative or absolute. So it could be just a way to track your fingers.
As usual in these cases, at the moment it is only a patent, which means that it may not materialize into a product.