The UU-U Memory Ring is a 3D printed piece of jewelry that holds a secret agent twist hidden inside. If you open up the top you will reveal a flip open USB memory stick hidden within the gold-plated brass ring.
If constantly losing your USB thumb drives is a problem for you then designer Ming Wu and his new start-up have got just the product to fix the problem. The Memory Ring keeps all of your important files right where you need them by literally storing them in your hands. Well, on your finger at least.
The Memory Ring started simply enough as an entry for a design contest put on by product design company Alessi. Wu envisioned a ring that had a use other than simply ornamental. He created several 3D printed prototypes, testing the fit, style and usability of each one. After settling on a final design he had 3D printing company i.Materialise 3D print the rings in gold-plated bronze.
“When designing the Ring, it was important to make it obvious that it isn’t a flash drive at first glance by redesigning the chip housing from scratch to meet the tolerances of jewlery design and conforming to USB standards,” Explained Wu on his now closed Kickstarter campaign. “The emphasis on a minimalistic, comfortable and functional design is a key feature in most of my design work. Memory Ring is one of those ideas that just falls into place, designing itself more than being designed.”
Wu planned to launch the product via a Kickstarter campaign and even planned out several different styles and materials. Unfortunately the campaign did not fund, but he says that he did have a plan B in place and is moving forward with that.
The ring is available in Gold-Plated Brass and Sterling Silver with 32 gigabytes of memory. There was also supposed to be a 16 gigabyte version made from stainless steel, however it looks like that is currently not an option.
Here is the Memory Ring Kickstarter video:
For now, if you want a Memory Ring you can still get them, you simply need to contact Wu through his company’s website, where you can also see a ton more pictures of the ring in action.
There have been USB rings before of course, but they tend to look cheaper and are usually made of plastic. This is one of the nicer designs that I’ve seen, and it is the only one that I could conceivably see myself wearing on a regular basis. Mainly because I want to pretend that I’m a spy. All of the jewelry that I buy should make me feel like a spy, in fact, it’s a new rule that I’m giving myself.
