Tech can be beautiful on its own, but it becomes more mysterious when embedded with natural materials like cloth, wood and paper. That’s why I’m gaga over these Bentwood NFC rings I found on Hackster.io designed by maker Sean Hodgins. Like the bracelets at Disney World, you can use these rings to unlock your devices thanks to NFC (Near Field Communication) tech. Sean’s tutorial is easy to understand and these rings make great holiday gifts since they are under $10 to make.
Sean starts with wood veneer trimmed into strips and then boils them in water to soften them for curling. Once a good shape is created around the finger, he carves out a small area in one of the strips to embed the NFC transponder. Then, it’s wrapping and gluing until a true ring is created. Sanding the layers creates a gorgeous striped ring with invisible tech.
Of course you need something to read the tag, and Sean utilizes our NFC/RFID Controller Shield for Arduino. That’s what allows the magical ability to swipe/log into a computer. That’s all there is! I hope you are excited about creating a wearable that is uniquely you and practical. Get swiping!
Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!