This week, we welcome a special guest to the PULSE podcast, Dhaval Patel.
An Apple leadership veteran with 37 patents to his name, Dhaval shares his experience working on Apple Watch health sensing, AirPods charging, iPhone 3D touch, and the MacBook trackpad - as well as the Hamilton quote that led to him leaving Cupertino to pursue his startup, Lotus.
Dhaval shares his personal backstory for building the ring - one that enables those with limited mobility to control lights, fans, and appliances with a simple point-and-click - and discusses the likelihood of his old employer building one of their own.
With backing from the former global head of smart wearables at Qualcomm, Pankaj Kedia, as well as the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins, Lotus is now on the cusp of launching.
You can check it out and join the waitlist over on the Lotus website - but, for now, we hope you enjoy this dive into smart rings and beyond.
Covered in this PULSE podcast:
00:00: Introduction and Dhaval’s background and work at Apple
04:23: The decision to leave Apple
06.52: An introduction to Lotus - what it does and why Dhaval chose to diverge from offering traditional smart ring features
13:41: Why the ring form factor prevailed when designing for those with limited mobility
18:42: The problem Lotus solves with current smart home tech
20.52: The likelihood of Apple launching a smart ring
22.48: Insight into patent wars between smart ring companies - and the idea of Lotus being acquired in the future
27:29: The current state of Lotus - what it can control and how it works in practice
