Funding for Japan’s own smart ring – can it buck the trend and actually impress?

Is the world ready for another smart ring? After the disastrous Smarty Ring on Indiegogo and the more recently Kickstarted Ring (which, according to backer feedback, ranges from “huge” to “a monstrosity”), it seems that those hardware startups’ ambitions may be too big – while necessary components are not yet small enough to make the platform viable.

A Japanese startup, 16lab, has skipped the crowdfunding phase and gone straight to venture capital to realize its own take on the increasingly notorious wearable. Tokyo-based VC Global Brain today announced that it had invested an undisclosed amount toward the startup’s smart ring, dubbed OZON.

“We are fully aware of disasters happening in the area of hardware startups, including smart rings, and we’re 100 percent confident that OZON works – because it’s already working,” Global Brain founder and CEO Yasuhiko Yurimoto tells Tech in Asia. “It was already demonstrated in public in October at CEATEC, one of the biggest tech exhibitions in Japan.”

Yurimoto explains that there are two “big reasons” behind his firm’s confidence:

One is the high level of experience held by the hardware specialists working at 16lab, which was key in our decision to invest. The second is the support from ALPS Electric, a listed company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. With intensive support from ALPS, the device has already been fully tested for both functionality and safety. Both quality control and mass-production stages have already been considered and taken care of.

ALPS (Tokyo: 6770) is a high-end electronic component supplier, boasting a client list of over 2,000 international companies including German auto maker Audi.

A working OZON prototype.

In addition to technical support, OZON’s aesthetics are being overseen by creative director Manabu Tago – an award-winning industrial designer who once created products for electronics giant Toshiba.

While the exact technical specifications are still secret, Yurimoto tells Tech in Asia that OZON will feature Bluetooth connectivity, vibration notifications, gesture detection by motion sensor, and contactless key and payment by NFC.

“Basically, you’ll be able to do anything with your gestures, as long as compatible devices are connected via Bluetooth,” Yurimoto says. “You can also control IR-based devices, such as air conditioner and TVs, through a so-called base-station which interconnects Bluetooth and infrared.”

OZON will support both iOS and Android devices. It’s expected to ship to the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Japan by Summer 2015.