The Java Ring is a stainless steel ring containing a small microprocessor with built-in capabilities. It houses a 1-million-transistor processor called an iButton that contains 134kb of RAM, 32kb of ROM, a real-time clock, and a Java virtual machine. The Java Ring was developed in 1989 and has been tested in schools, allowing students to unlock doors, take attendance, and store medical information through programmed Java applets. It provides authentication through PINs and has applications for security and personalized services.