SERIES: This is the first article in a series about the digital jewellery prototypes presented at the KEA Meaningful Menopause Jewellery exhibition in early 2024. If produced, these wearables can help women experiencing menopause symptoms.
Brain fog affects millions of people worldwide every day. It is characterised by forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, and mental fatigue. (Read more here or here). With the Clarity Ring, the four students at Copenhagen Business Academy (KEA) Sofie Ammitzbøll, Julie Bæk, Sara Ziegler, Sidsel Bach Nielsen, and Julie Stokholm hope to help people suffering from angst, stress, and brain fog.
One ring, dual purpose
The Clarity Ring serves a dual purpose. It offers a tactile fidget element to enhance focus and pulse-guided adjustable vibrations. The vibrations induce relaxation and intentional breathing to combat stress, angst, or menopause symptoms like brain fog.
“We wanted to create a meaningful piece of smart jewellery that gets you out of your head and in tune with your body”, explained the four young women who designed the digital ring to alleviate brain fog.
The ring’s decorative aspects feature a circle topped with a crescent moon shape. Together, the two decorative features represent the lunar phases. The crescent-shaped element doubles as a button. Sliding the button away from the oval with one click unlocks the oval and turns it into an integrated fidget element. This tactile feature provides sensory stimulation and promotes mental clarity while allowing control over the wearable functionalities.
An interactive wearable
When feeling anxious, the wearer can activate the relaxing vibration by clicking the crescent button twice away from the circle. The inner lining of the ring features a series of vibration motors and a pulse sensor. When activated, these components generate soothing vibrations that encircle the wearer’s finger. The rhythm of the vibration around the finger is a unique feature of smart rings that helps to relax the wearer. Via a smartphone app, the wearer can adjust the pulsation rhythm and strength for an interactive and personalized experience.
Future versions of the ring may incorporate an automated pulse sensor, which activates the vibrations when the pulse is high, for example, during moments of heightened stress. However, this feature can be deactivated via a further click of the moon-shaped disc. This is useful if the user does not want to be distracted, for example, if attending a job interview.
“You decide when you want to activate the pulse-sensing vibration function. With the Clarity Ring, you won’t be tracked, and you won’t be distracted by notifications. It’s your choice how you want to use the ring”, the four students point out.
Besides helping women who have trouble focusing as a menopause symptom, fidgeting is known to help, for example, people with ADHD gain or retain focus. As more and more women are diagnosed with ADHD, the Clarity Ring could also be a helpful tool for them.
Symbol of female life cycle and unity
TechTruster has previously written about smart jewellery, such as the Oura Ring. The company behind the Oura Ring issued its fourth generation in late 2023. While the Oura Ring is unisex in look and features, the design and functionalities of the jewellery presented at the KEA exhibition are solely targeting women.
Different from the Oura ring, the Clarity Ring cherishes female solidarity through generations. The symbolism of the decorative features—the lunar phases—embodies the stages of female life, from youth to maturity.
“We chose the fidget part to be a round silver shape to symbolize the full moon and the other moving and decorative part to be a silver crescent moon. Because this ring is for women in any phase of their lives—young, mature, and older. We want women to pass this ring on to their daughters”, explained the four jewellery designers about the digital ring to alleviate brain fog.
Jewellery design based on own survey
Before embarking on the Meaningful Menopause design project, the jewellery design students surveyed 96 women between the ages of 30 and 70. More than 84 per cent of the participants were between 46 and 55, the age range in which most women experience menopause symptoms.
The survey participants picked up to three symptoms from a list of the most common menopause symptoms they experienced the most. More than half (54 percent) picked brain fog, which was the third most common symptom. Only hot flashes (67 percent) and sleep problems or fatigue (70 percent) topped brain fog in the survey.
The Clarity Ring addresses this prevalent menopausal symptom. It can offer relief to those navigating cognitive challenges, not just during menopause but at any age. If you’re among the many women experiencing brain fog, this ring may soon offer a solution.
This ring thus represents more than just a piece of jewellery blending fashion with functionality for enhanced well-being. It’s a symbol of empowerment and support for women facing the cognitive challenges of menopause. With its innovative design and focus on meaningful user experience, this digital piece of jewellery holds promise for those seeking relief from brain fog, trouble focusing, and stress if and, hopefully, when it goes into production.