The One 3D printed smart ring opens the door to the Internet of Things

Sometimes we forget that before the revolution of 3D printing is fully realized, another significant change will have already occurred: the advent of ubiquitous computing and the Internet of Things (IoT). 3D printing will be an integral part of this movement, enabling the creation of miniature devices capable of supporting connectivity and processing power. The Arduboy blog gives us an early glimpse of this with the Ö Bluetooth Ring.

The 3D printed ring is powered by Nordic Semiconductor’s NRF51822 chipset, a flexible System-on-Chip (SoC) that supports Bluetooth Smart (formerly known as Low Energy Bluetooth) and ultra-low-power 2.4GHz wireless applications. It features an integrated ARM Cortex-M0 processor running at 16MHz, the smallest ARM processor available among the Cortex-M microcontrollers, which are the world’s most popular 32-bit MCUs, already selling in the billions.

The chip inside the ring includes 256k of flash memory and 16k of RAM, much of which is occupied by the Bluetooth communication module, but it still exceeds the capabilities of a standard Arduino board. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect is the programming potential that this 3D-printed ring unlocks, leveraging ARM’s mbed cloud platform.

ARM’s mbed division is central to the company’s IoT research. It encompasses the mbed OS, designed specifically for Cortex-M MCUs, the mbed Device Server for connecting IoT devices, and mbed development tools. With these tools, Arduboy was able to program the ring by simply dragging and dropping instructions onto the device via USB.

The next steps involved connecting a 64×32 pixel black-and-white OLED display and a touch-sensitive button, all powered by a 40mAh rechargeable lithium polymer battery, which fits snugly inside the 3D-printed ring. The result is this:

In the video’s comments, a debate emerged about the practicality and potential of connected, smart wearable devices. Some argue that no one would willingly compromise the quality of technology access (e.g., smaller screens, limited functionality) just to avoid pulling a smartphone out of their pocket. While I generally agree that devices like smartwatches and smart glasses are likely to struggle as consumer products, I believe this case is different.

This is more of an experiment in IoT functionality than just another smart device. By pushing the boundaries of processor, chip, and power source miniaturization—and using a custom-made 3D-printed “container”—this project paves the way for what I see as true wearable electronics. These would not be tied to a dedicated device you have to wear but instead become entirely non-invasive, embedded into something like a shirt sleeve or a 3D-printed belt buckle with integrated smart features. Only then will the Internet truly become ubiquitous and wearable.