Natura Wants People Controlling AI Agents From Their Fingers

AI agent management

Artificial intelligence and hardware startup Natura has reportedly debuted a smart ring designed to let users interact with AI agents.

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    The company’s new Interface ring, the subject of a Thursday (Oct. 8) TechCrunch report, sells for $99 and allows users to have AI agents complete tasks while also tracking their health.

    Founder Carlo Edoardo Ferraris told TechCrunch that after years of developing consumer hardware, he grew convinced that AI needed a new type of interface that lets users ask for what they want the way they’d ask another person.

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    “Over time, we evolved to an understanding where you really want to have access to your agents 24/7,” Ferraris said. “You don’t want to have even one hour of your day where you cannot access them. And the form factor of the ring is perfect for this because it’s basically an extension of you. You can go shower with it; you can sleep with it. You never take it off.”

    According to the report, Natura argues that the Interface’s use cases are limitless. For example, someone going for a run could ask it to track their workout. Upon waking up, the user could ask the ring for their daily schedule. Someone realizing they are out of shampoo while taking a shower could tell the ring to order more. And a user who fell asleep in front of the TV could ask the ring to turn off the television and set an alarm for the morning.

    Research by PYMNTS Intelligence has shown that consumers have varying levels of trust when it comes to the types of tasks AI agents can perform.

    According to “Global Digital Shopping Index: The Agentic Commerce Deep Dive,” a Visa Acceptance Solutions collaboration, 56% of consumers permit an artificial intelligence agent to search and compare products, and 51% will let it manage their loyalty program. However, just 35% of consumers will allow an agent to access their saved payment credentials.

    “Still, most consumers say they would let agents make purchases for them if the right guardrails are in place,” the report said.

    An additional PYMNTS Intelligence report, “From Assistive to Agentic AI: Consumers Wade into Autonomous Commerce,” in January found that while consumers showed interest in AI-native commerce, their trust remains rooted in familiar payment credentials and credit card networks.

    “Consumers are ready to delegate meaningful purchasing and financial tasks to agentic AI,” the report said. “However, broad adoption will be constrained and shaped by ‘payments-grade’ trust. This includes transparent controls, clear data governance, and credential and rail choices anchored in banks, wallets and card networks, rather than in the AI layer alone.”