Charmed Chips

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but can they tune in to a radio broadcast? Or place a call on a cell phone? Will they check the status of your investment portfolio? Can they telegraph your mood to a loved one?

With these kinds of capabilities, silicon might someday replace compressed carbon as the element of choice in jewelry.

Given the choice between earrings that double as tiny stereo speakers and earrings that merely dangle alluringly from the earlobes, a handful of companies are betting that women--and some men--will choose the speakers.

Couple those high-tech earrings with a necklace whose pendant contains a tiny microphone and you’ve practically got a wearable wireless phone.

Round out the ensemble with a pair of sunglasses that not only filter out daylight but also display text and pictures and you’re pretty much wearing a full-fledged PC.

Indeed, it’s the promise of completely mobile computing that inspired many of the smart accessories that will slowly begin making their way out of research labs soon.

“Jewelry has been around for a long time,” explained Cameron Miner, a principal in the DesignLab at IBM’s Almaden Research Center in San Jose. “As computers get smaller and smaller, why not put them in things we’re already using?”

Katrina Barillova, whose Beverly Hills company, Charmed Technology, plans to start selling computerized brooches this year, has an even bolder vision for digital jewelry.

“If you fell asleep today and woke up 50 years later, you would look around and say, ‘Where are all the TVs and computers?’ ” she said. “And they’ll say, ‘What do you mean? I’m wearing it.’ ”

While those who strive to stay on the cutting edge of technology are sure to share at least some of Barillova’s enthusiasm, others are likely to recoil at the thought that the watch they got for graduation or the diamond solitaire that sealed an engagement could be reduced to a mere tool. After all, wouldn’t that be like giving your wife a screwdriver for your anniversary?

Indeed, at Tiffany & Co.--a name synonymous with fine jewelry--the prospect of infusing gold and platinum pieces with speakers and microphones is simply bewildering.

“You’d have to be very careful at a dinner party who you talk to,” said Wallace Steiner, a Tiffany regional vice president based in Beverly Hills.

That sort of skepticism hasn’t stopped a handful of corporate research labs from designing digital jewelry that performs the functions of items such as computers and cell phones.

Chip maker Dallas Semiconductor now makes a line of rings and watches with tiny Java-powered “virtual machines” used to store personal user names, passwords and PC preferences. Each ring and watch contains a small metal disk about the size of three stacked dimes. When the disk is pressed to an electronic sensor, the Java machine automatically sends the personal data to the PC, said Dennis Jarrett, a product manager for the Dallas-based company.

More than 20,000 $65 rings and about 4,000 $89 watches have been sold in the last two years, Jarrett said. At a high school in Celebration, Fla., all students use Java rings to record their attendance, gain access to classrooms and even pay for cafeteria meals.

In the not-too-distant future, Jarrett speculates, Java rings and watches could allow people to log on to Internet kiosks in shopping malls and pay restaurant bills without credit cards.

But the Java jewelry is already on the verge of being superseded by far more capable baubles that aim to eliminate the need for computers and cell phones.

NCR has shrunk a PC and stuck it on an M-Bracelet, a colorful plastic cuff that encases digital innards. The bracelet, still confined to research labs, can send and receive messages, link to Web sites and even function as a bank card at ATMs and checkout machines. Two people wearing the bracelets can automatically exchange information and messages with a simple handshake, said Despina Papadopoulos, one of the designers.

Many of the developments in digital jewelry have grown out of research into a field known as pervasive computing, the notion that computers as we know them today will be replaced by chips embedded in all manner of everyday items, from refrigerators to tennis shoes.

The team at IBM’s DesignLab started with watches. Their wrist computer has all the power of a desktop PC and runs on an IBM flavor of the Linux operating system. Although they discovered it was technically possible to display a miniature version of a computer screen, they decided it would be more useful to show only selected bits of information, such as stock portfolio snapshots or blinking alarms, to indicate arriving voicemail, Miner said.

Researchers have since moved on to much smaller pieces. Charms on necklaces sprouted miniature microphones, and earrings became containers for small speakers such as those used in hearing aids.

Those who don’t have pierced ears can use ear buds, small metal devices that fit neatly inside the ear like an ear plug.

Instead of a traditional computer screen, IBM developed special sunglasses coated with a holographic film. When used in combination with a tiny digital projector embedded in the frames, the glasses can make objects look as if they are 18 inches in front of the eyes and 12 inches wide, Miner said.

To wade through the data on such a virtual screen, IBM created a wireless mouse disguised as a ring. An organic-looking hunk of sterling silver sits atop the ring and covers a tiny nub--just like those used in IBM’s ThinkPad laptop computers. It can be pressed in any direction like a mini joystick. Pressing the metal hunk up or down moves the cursor arrow accordingly.

IBM is working on making the ring a force-feedback device. When scrolling through a phone list, for example, the ring could simulate the feeling of hitting a brick wall when coming to the last entry. It could also give a little punch to verify a click.

All of these peripherals need to run off a central processing unit, a device that might be about the size of a Walkman that could be worn on a belt or carried in a backpack or purse. By communicating with the jewelry via wireless connections, the devices could work in sync to perform useful tasks, Miner said.

For instance, the camera nestled in the sunglasses frame could scan the face of an oncoming person and search for a match in the CPU’s database. The CPU could then command the earring speakers to whisper the person’s name. The earrings could even offer a reminder that the person’s birthday is today, or that a meeting is scheduled with her for tomorrow, Miner said.

IBM is building prototypes of its devices, some of which are operational on a local-area wireless network that serves the company’s San Jose research center. Actual products are about five to 10 years away from coming to market, Miner said.

Charmed Technology is also working on earrings with speakers, necklaces with microphones and cameras hidden in eye wear, all of which would be linked together by a CPU. The company’s first product, the Charmed Badge, turns brooches and even trade show name tags into computerized pieces of wearable art, said Barillova, Charmed’s co-founder and vice president.

Each badge links to a Web page where wearers can enter their personal information. For trade shows, users can type in the name of their company and what products they’re looking for. Then, as they wander around the trade show floor, their badges are capable of using infrared beams to search for products that meet their requirements. If matches are found, tiny lights will flash and the badge will record the pertinent information. Later, the information can be downloaded to a PC and accessed via the Web.

When two badge wearers meet, the devices will exchange contact information like a pair of Palm devices. Once downloaded to a PC, the list of contacts can be accessed on the wearer’s Web page as well.

More fashionable versions of Charmed Badges also can be sold at nightclubs and activated instantly at Web kiosks, Barillova said. When two people with complementary interests pass each other, their badges will light up and exchange information. They could even release pheromones to enhance the wearer’s appeal, Barillova said.

Charmed Technology, which has licensed most of its technology from MIT’s Media Lab, already has tested its Charmed Badges at one conference. Because attendees usually preregister for conferences and trade shows, the badges can be preloaded with the wearer’s personal information, and the cost can be factored into the overall registration price.

Badges meant to be worn in more social settings such as clubs could retail for about $10 to $20 and could be available this year. More traditional digital jewelry, such as necklaces and earrings, is likely to come on the market within a year or two, costing $60 to $100 a month, including the wireless service needed for all the accessories to communicate, Barillova said.

Charmed is also working on “love bracelets” that let two wearers send each other tactile messages, she said. One person can touch a button on his love bracelet to make the bracelet worn by his loved one warm up. The bracelets would also have panic buttons, so that one user can alert the other when he is in danger.

IBM is tinkering with an “inverse mood ring” that has a similar purpose. The rings will be able to sense the wearer’s mood by measuring things such as heart rate and temperature, then let a loved one know the wearer’s emotional state by lighting up that person’s mood ring.

“If my ring is steady blue, I know my wife’s day is going well and I can work a little longer,” Miner said. “If my ring is red, I know to pick up some flowers on the way home.”

With capabilities like that, it’s hard for Miner to tell whether the digital accessories should be classified as jewelry or computer components.

“Is it technology disguised as jewelry,” he asked, “or is it jewelry that is smart?”

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Staff writer Karen Kaplan covers Southern California technology companies for The Times.