biometrics | SunMatrix Ramble

Crafted By My Heart

A ring becomes more than a ring when the pattern is literally yours.

“Crafted By My Heart” is an app launched by DDB Group Hong Kong that lets you customize jewelry with your own heartbeat. You place a finger over the smartphone’s camera and flash. The app detects subtle changes in finger coloration, measures your heartbeat, then translates its intensity and rhythm into a unique digital rendering. That rendering becomes the basis for a one-of-a-kind ring.

The idea in one line

Turn biometric signal into a personal design language, then manufacture it as a physical object.

How the experience works

The flow is intentionally simple.

Capture
You use the phone’s flash and camera to read your heartbeat through small changes in skin coloration.
Translate
The heartbeat becomes a digital rendering that is unique to your rhythm.
Craft
That rendering is used to create a ring. It is not a generic engraving. It is a form generated by your own signal.

The product choices are clear and bounded

The app offers two base designs, Surge and Sierra, with three finishes: gold, silver, or black silver. Rings cost between HK$1,198 and HK$1,588 (listed as US$155 to US$205), and take around 15 to 20 working days to complete.

Why this works as innovation, not just novelty

Personalization is structural, not cosmetic

A lot of customization is color, text, or surface. Here, the customer input generates the form. That feels materially more personal.

Technology removes the intimidation barrier

Biometrics and jewelry-making sound complex. The interaction is not. One finger. One phone. A result you can explain in one sentence.

The story is built-in

The product carries a narrative you can repeat instantly. It is your heartbeat, turned into a physical object. That makes it inherently giftable.

The deeper point

When brands look for meaningful personalization, the win is rarely “more options.” The win is finding a signal that matters emotionally, translating it into a design system, and making the creation process easy enough that people actually do it.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the core mechanic behind Crafted By My Heart?

The phone’s camera and flash detect heartbeat via subtle changes in finger coloration, then translate the rhythm into a digital rendering used to craft a ring.

What does the customer actually customize?

They select a base design and finish. The unique part is the heartbeat-generated rendering that drives the final piece.

What are the available designs and finishes?

Two base designs. Surge and Sierra. Three finishes. Gold, silver, and black silver.

What are the price and production timelines?

HK$1,198 to HK$1,588 (US$155 to US$205). Around 15 to 20 working days.

What is the transferable lesson for other categories?

If you can capture a personal signal that people care about, translate it into a design language, and make ordering effortless, you turn “customization” into meaning.

Replace your passwords with your heartbeat

Imagine never having to type a password, and never needing to pull out your credit card to make a payment ever again. A biometrics startup called Bionym is positioning exactly that future with Nymi, a sleek wristband that uses your heartbeat to authenticate your identity.

The promise is simple. If your identity can be verified passively, you can unlock everyday things without friction. Bionym presents Nymi as a way to unlock your favourite devices such as your computer, smartphone, and even your car. If this kind of wearable is adopted at scale, it becomes a first step toward replacing keys and passwords with something you already carry on you.

What is actually being launched

Nymi is positioned as a consumer-ready wristband with a clear job. Authenticate you, then unlock the devices and services you use most. The interesting part is not the form factor. It is the shift from remembering secrets to proving identity continuously.

The ecosystem requirement that decides whether it matters

A wearable authentication layer only becomes valuable when it works across many endpoints. That means third-party developers and partners need to build a thriving ecosystem of apps and devices that can use Nymi for access and verification.

Pre-order details

You can pre-order the Nymi for $79, but it is not going into production until later this year. Between now and launch, the real work is adoption. Getting integrations, partners, and use cases that make “heartbeat as login” feel normal.

A few fast answers before you act

What is Nymi?

A wristband from biometrics startup Bionym that uses your heartbeat to authenticate your identity and unlock devices.

What kinds of things can it unlock?

Bionym positions it as a way to unlock devices such as computers, smartphones, and cars, reducing the need for passwords and keys.

What has to happen for this to scale?

A strong third-party ecosystem of apps and device integrations, so the wristband works across many real-world use cases.

Nissan NISMO Watch

To say the smartwatch industry is on the verge of exploding would be an understatement. Consumer electronics companies and chip makers are not the only players entering the wearable tech space. Nissan recently announced it is joining the fray too, with what it bills as the first smartwatch concept to connect the car and driver.

There are already a number of smartwatches on the market, including Pebble, i’m Watch, Sony SmartWatch 2 and Samsung Galaxy Gear. But out of all of them, this is the coolest looking and it actually maps to a real use case for Nissan performance fans.

Nissan is scheduled to show off the device, dubbed the Nissan NISMO Watch, at the Frankfurt Motor Show. From the video it looks pretty awesome, so I cannot wait to see it when I visit the Frankfurt Motor Show next week.

What the NISMO Watch is trying to do

Nissan positions the watch as a bridge between driver and car. The concept is designed to connect via a smartphone app using Bluetooth Low Energy and surface data that drivers and track-day fans care about, such as average speed and fuel consumption, plus broader vehicle telematics and performance information.

It also leans into biometrics. The concept includes a heart rate monitor, framing the watch as a way to understand not only the car’s performance, but the driver’s state too.

In automotive performance culture, wearable concepts like this are as much about brand signaling as they are about immediate product rollout.

Why this is a smart brand move

NISMO is Nissan’s performance identity. A watch is a compact, always-visible object that can carry that identity beyond the car itself. If you can make “performance data” feel personal and wearable, you turn a brand into a daily habit, not only a purchase decision.

The concept also stretches beyond driving. Nissan’s own materials describe a “social performance” layer, where the watch can track activity across major social networks. Even if that is more provocative than practical, it makes the point: the watch is meant to be a connected lifestyle object, not only a dashboard mirror.

The real question: usefulness vs distraction

Anything that surfaces data while driving needs restraint. The best version of this idea is “track-day and post-drive insight”, not “more screens in motion”. If the watch becomes a reason to look away from the road, the concept backfires.

What to steal if you market a performance product

Export the benefit into a new object. If your differentiator is hard to demo, move it into something people can touch and wear.
Combine machine data with human data. “Car telemetry plus biometric state” is a stronger story than either alone.
Make the design do half the selling. If it looks like performance gear, people will want to try it before they understand the spec sheet.
Keep the experience context-safe. Design interactions for before and after driving, not during critical moments.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Nissan NISMO Watch?

It is a smartwatch concept Nissan unveiled for its NISMO performance brand, positioned as a way to connect driver and car by showing vehicle performance data and driver biometric data.

How does the watch connect to the car?

Nissan’s release describes connecting via a smartphone app using Bluetooth Low Energy, so the watch can receive telemetry and performance information.

What kind of data does it show?

Reported features include average speed and fuel consumption, access to vehicle telematics and performance data, and biometric capture via a heart rate monitor.

Why would an automaker build a smartwatch concept?

Because it signals innovation, extends the brand into daily life, and creates a tangible way to talk about connected-car data and performance identity beyond the vehicle.

What is the biggest risk with wearables tied to driving?

Distraction. Any design that encourages glances during driving can be unsafe, so the value needs to skew toward track use and post-drive insights.