For music lovers, the ease of toggling through their playlist or changing the volume without much effort is a perk they’ll take any day. Wireless headphones or earbuds do have touch control buttons but you still have to lift your arm to do that. For someone who frequently changes songs or toggles the volume levels, this can be a bit of a hassle. Joel Meredith, a 22-year-old student at the University of Technology Sydney wants to radically change the way we interact with our music, making it hassle-free while being stylish.

That’s his idea for an accessory good enough to go with your style quotient and still being functional. Joel calls it the Melo Ring which sits pretty on your finger, and without even lifting your arm, you can interact with your music using touch or swipe gestures via the various sensors located all over the ring. Sharing songs with other Melo Ring users is also possible with the flick of a finger on the minimalistic piece of jewelry. Not only that one can add songs to a playlist, read out song name, or change the playlist without anyone else even noticing. Being more than just an accessory that you wear every day or probably never even take it off – turning it into something functional is the main motivation for the cool idea.

Melo Ring is one of the 3,865 entrants at the Red Bull Basement competition this year. Joel plans to create the early prototype of Melo Ring in early 2021 and tweak the design and its functions until he is finally ready to roll it out to the masses. His core idea is to have “attention less products and glanceable technology” that fits seamlessly in a user’s lifestyle just like a second skin.

Designer: Joel Meredith