Oura, the company that developed the smart ring to monitor biometric data, is introducing new features that focus on social sharing and sleep tracking. The company’s new feature called Circles allows users to create private groups where they can share readiness, sleep, and activity scores. Oura CEO Tom Hale said that this feature is not about competition, but instead, it’s about “support and empathy.”
Social Sharing Feature
Oura’s new community-sharing feature, Circles, enables users to share their biometric data, readiness, sleep, and activity scores with their intimate friends, family, trainers, doctors, or team members in small and private groups. The data is only shared with the people that the users want to share it with and is not posted on social media platforms like Twitter. Hale explained that the goal of Circles is to create a small and intimate group of empathy and support.
The feature comes at a time when chronic loneliness is considered a public health crisis. Sharing the data set that Circles provides could help create a physiological set of data that allows users to understand if someone is having a bad day or not. The data can help monitor the health and well-being of individuals and their loved ones.
Other Wearable Devices
The race among tech companies to add more features and functionality to their wearable devices is increasing as consumers focus more on the health and exercise measurements that these devices highlight. Recently, Apple announced several new health-related features for the Apple Watch, including tracking features for both mental and vision health, in addition to new cycling and hiking capabilities. Samsung also added new temperature sensors to its Galaxy watch to track sleep, and Garmin and Alphabet’s Fitbit have also boosted their devices’ capabilities around sleep and readiness.
Sleep Tracking Feature
Oura, which broke into the wearables market as a sleep tracker, has rolled out a new sleep staging algorithm that the company says is in 79% agreement with polysomnography. The algorithm measures brain waves, oxygen levels in the blood, heart rate, breathing, eye, and leg movements during sleep. The new sleep staging algorithm enables the app to provide a variety of scores and areas for improvement. The app monitors various stages of sleep, including wake, light, deep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Hale explained that the enhanced algorithm is “the largest dataset of sleep in existence.”
Partnerships and Sales
Oura has looked to get its rings onto more hands through added features and various partnerships. Last year, Oura partnered with Gucci for a $950 luxury version of its ring and recently announced a deal with Best Buy to be its first U.S.-based large-scale retail partnership, putting its rings in more than 850 stores across the country. It also launched an employer-focused wellness arm in February, aiming to work with companies, schools, sports organizations, and the military around health goals for their employees. Oura sold its millionth ring in March 2022, the last time it provided a unit sales figure.
As the battle among tech companies to land and keep trackers on the wrists and fingers of consumers continues, Oura is introducing new features that focus on social sharing and sleep tracking. The company’s new community-sharing feature, Circles, allows users to share their biometric data, readiness, sleep, and activity scores with their intimate friends, family, trainers, doctors, or team members in small and private groups. The feature is not about competition, but instead, it’s about “support and empathy.” The feature comes at a time when chronic loneliness is considered a public health crisis. Sharing the data set that Circles provides could help create a physiological set of data that allows users to understand if someone is having a bad day or not.
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