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Smart technology has revolutionised every aspect of our lives, from tracking vital health statistics to telling us when the refrigerator is a little light on milk.
Though there are undoubted questions about the way our data is gathered and used, and how these devices are affecting the human psyche, smart tech has more or less nestled itself seamlessly into our lives.
So it can sometimes be easy to forget that our smart devices aren’t always invincible, and can occasionally present problems that could be detrimental to our health and wellbeing.
And that’s exactly what YouTuber Daniel Rotar discovered recently – and while it ended up costing him a flight, things could have been so much worse.
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According to his Twitter (X) feed, Zone of Tech expert Rotar was waiting at the airport gate after over 48 hours of travel, when he became aware that the battery in his smart ring had started to swell.
The result? The ring had become so tight on his finger that he couldn’t remove it – and worse, his finger was rapidly swelling too.
His Samsung Galaxy smart ring – which many use for health, sleep and activity tracking, as well as contactless payments and notifications – was so stuck that neither he nor the airline crew who tried to remove the ring with soap and water were able to do so.
And even more concerningly, their attempts only caused the ring battery to swell more.
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Of course, Rotar was not allowed to fly, and instead had to make an unplanned trip to the Emergency Room.
While ER staff were able to remove the ring after applying ice to his finger to reduce the swelling and then sufficiently lubricating the ring, both Rotar’s finger and the Samsung ring’s reputation were subject to damage.
Swelling batteries are not uncommon in technology, but of course, that technology is not usually literally wrapped around a person’s finger, meaning that the consequences aren’t quite so dire.
Thankfully, Rotar and his finger survived the incident, but it ultimately goes to show the hazards of integrating technology into our lives without thought or question.
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