Images courtesy of Yaroslava Borz and The Touch

Dating

The HB smart ring is going to revolutionise the way couples celebrate their big day

By Charlie Sawyer

May 1, 2023

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It’s official, technology is about to infiltrate its way into every wedding this Summer season. We’ve heard about overhead drones capturing the lovers’ first married kiss and it’s only a matter of time before ring bearers get replaced by robots, but what about a ring which can let you see and feel your loved one’s heartbeat?

Introducing the HB Ring, a smart (more so technologically than aesthetically) piece of kit which allows users to quite literally connect to one another’s hearts as they enjoy their special day. According to the BBC, each ring is connected by Bluetooth to an app on the wearer’s smartphone. And via the app, two rings can be linked together.

So, every time an individual presses their wedding ring, it both physically pulses with the other person’s heartbeat, and displays the heartbeat as a moving red line. As long as both partners’ mobile phones are connected to the internet, they get a real time heartbeat. If either is offline, they get the last recorded one.

Also, no need to knab a partner to get in on the action, simply sync up to your bestie’s heart rate and enjoy. Just so you know, the HB Ring will set you back an easy $500. Oh, but don’t worry, it’s water resistant.

Created by Czech firm The Touch, the rechargeable ring is bound to attract couples who aren’t as fussed by diamond bling—some pairs may be searching for a deeper heart to heart connection (excuse the pun).

This isn’t to say that the HB ring isn’t durable. According to the website: “HB Ring housings are made of 18K Solid Rose Gold or Stainless Steel, together with Sapphire Crystal housing. This makes HB Rings not only precious, but theoretically unscratchable.”

And, if a ring isn’t really your kind of jewellery, The Touch also offers a locket version of the device. So, rather than feeling your lovers’ heartbeat on your finger, you can feel it up against your chest. Romantic stuff.

Some of the reviews of the HB Ring include: “As a military spouse and being separated from my SO for long periods of time, I love to feel his heartbeat every moment I can,” and, “Never actually wore or owned a ring prior to this, but the whole idea of it was too good to pass up.”

Accessories, whether they be smart or simple, seem to be dominating the dating industry at the moment. However, while the recent Pear ring focused on acting as a siren call for singles, this new gadget is definitely targeted towards individuals who’ve already found love.

While smartwatches have been around for a hot minute now, tech-fuelled rings are only beginning to pick up in popularity. Nevertheless, data analysts have predicted that the global smart rings market will reach $11.44 million by the end of 2030.

Is the HB Ring about to become the next big thing? All I’ll say is that if you do decide to wear these on your wedding day, don’t panic if you see your partner’s heartbeat start to jump and spiral out of control, they’re probably just nervous.

Image courtesy of Inga Seliverstova from Pexels

Dating

Introducing the Pear Ring: a social experiment set to disrupt the dating lives of gen Zers everywhere

By Charlie Sawyer

Apr 5, 2023

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Modern dating is rough. Sometimes I think that if it came down to choosing between spending an afternoon with Matt Hancock or spending an hour or so on Hinge, I’d pick the former. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t be thrilled about it, but I’d do it if it meant avoiding the black hole that is swipe city. So imagine my excitement when I came across a new product which is promising to completely disrupt the dating multiverse and make singlehood that bit easier.

Introducing the Pear Ring, a small turquoise band that is potentially about to completely change the way gen Zers, zillennials, and lower millennials mingle and match. This subtle piece of jewellery is out to make a big and splashy statement. As Pear sees it, “if 1.2 billion singles around the world wore a little green ring on their finger to show they’re single, we wouldn’t need dating apps. IRL connection is the mission.”

The general message seems to be that dating apps are inherently destroying the dating experience, and so Pear has tried to create a new way for singletons to identify one another and connect in a more organic way. 

“In a bar, on a plane, at the gym, on a train, at work, walking the dog, at a wedding, in a club, on the tube, ordering a coffee, at the office, having a haircut, going for a run, playing tennis,” the gist is to simply pop this little blue ring on your finger, go out into the world and hopefully meet the one. While I’m not usually the optimistic type, it is a romantic fantasy.

The company’s website is definitely interesting—when you first try to access the page a small pop up screen asks you “are you single?” If you answer no, you’re immediately booted off the site and told “this is a product just for single people who are in a position to meet other people.” If you answer yes, you’re welcomed in and shown Pear’s primary landing page.

Once there, you’re given a pretty minute amount of information regarding the ring. The page is more so a visual experience than anything else. The product’s most interesting aspect definitely revolves around a highly mysterious event called PearFest.

As stated by the website, not only do 100 per cent of profits go towards “growing the social experiment around the world,” but anyone who purchases the ring (for the price of £19.99) automatically gets access to “a unique membership number,” is “invited to PearFest,” and will get access to “exclusive free events in [their] city.”

Now, this all sounds quite luxurious on the surface, however, we know very little about what PearFest actually entails and indeed what these mysterious “free events” might be. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but are we on the verge of witnessing a Fyre Festival part two? While it is possible that only those who purchase the ring are then able to access further information regarding the festival, it still feels strange that Pear would be so coy online about its events.

Another curious aspect of this entire story is the fact that the Pear Ring first went viral after social media publishers Pubity shared a paid partnership post on its feed, plugging the ring and hyping up the social experiment. Was this post the real reason that Pear has now reportedly sold 91 per cent of its stock? It’s of course possible that thousands of people legitimately bought into the idea and wanted to test drive this new dating technique, but the Pubity promotion is something to consider.

 

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A post shared by Pubity (@pubity)

Because we still know so little about the Pear Ring, and indeed the company behind it, we’re left speculating about a lot of things. Could this be the next big thing for single gen Zers? Or are we being sold a dream that’s never actually going to come to fruition? We’ll just have to wait and see.