Samsung Teases WELT Fitness Tracking Belt And rink Motion Controller Ahead Of CES 2016 Showcase

Samsung will be showcasing three of its most promising C-Labs projects at CES 2016 next month in Las Vegas. The three products include WELT (fitness belt), rink (motion controller) and TipTalk (audio device). WELT is perhaps the most normal-looking entry, as it looks like a garden variety leather belt that you might find hanging in your closet. The WELT can measure your waist size (which should come in handy for those counting every calorie in a bid to lose weight), and can operate as a step counter. It will even keep track of how long you’ve been sitting and report all of its findings back to a companion app.

One of the more intriguing products is TipTalk, which gives consumers a completely new way of interacting with their mobile devices and has already launched as an independent company. When a user typically wants to listen to music, a phone call or notifications coming from their smartphone or smartwatch, they have to use the device’s built-in speaker or a pair of headphones/earphones. However, TipTalk, which is shaped like a watch strap and can be strapped to an analog watch or smartwatch, allows you to hear audio (from your smartwatch or smartphone) by simply tapping your finger to your ear.

“This enhances the clarity of calls, enabling them to be taken in public, even in noise-sensitive or loud environments, such as a concert hall or building site – without the risk of being overheard,” explains Samsung.

That last project that will be displayed at CES is rink, which is a hand-mounted motion controller. rink, which takes the form of two wireless controllers that wrap around your hands, gives users an “intuitive and nuanced” way to interact in a virtual reality environment. Two examples that Samsung gave show a person interacting with a virtual keyboard projected onto a flat surface and someone swinging a tennis racket while wearing a Gear VR headset.

Samsung says that more than 100 projects have passed through C-Labs, 70 of which have been completed since its inception in 2012. According to a November report, Samsung employees that hatch their own companies from C-Labs can return to their former position within the company should their venture fail within the first five years.